Is TicketMaster Fair?

The OP stated they left with plenty of time to get there. I don't
think she should get a refund, but people need to learn to read.

one person's "plenty of time" is another person's "running late".. it
would help if the OP knew what time they left at.. etc. Either way..
they most likely won't get a refund. If they gave refunds for
customers who weren't able to attend events.. they would probably lose
alot of money.

The only thing I don;t like about tickemaster is they don't give me
enough time to make my seat selection. I was trying to buy event
tickets last Dec. I was unfamiliar with the venue. Everytime I was
looking at seats and decided to make my selection I lost the seats. I
finally ended up selecting seats on my 3rd try and I be damn if I
didn't pick the wrong day! I did not even catch it until I printed the
tickets that day. Anyway had to make that date work for 10 poeople.
That said in this case.......You don't deserve a refund! But sorry
you missed your event.

I can't believe that you would think that Ticketmaster would even
consider refunding your money because you missed the show. While it's
not your fault there was a traffic jam on the way there, it's not
Ticketmaster's fault either. Frankly I am shocked that they agreed to
switch your tickets for better ones. There is normally a "no refund,
no exchange" policy on event tickets, so it was EXTREMELY nice that
they agreed to give you better tickets.

And yes, in this case Ticketmaster IS fair.

There was no reason for the customer service rep to be rude to you,
but any time I have EVER bought tickets to a show/concert/etc, there
was always a no refund policy. They don't care why you couldn't get
there. They probably have a no refund policy because i'm sure a
number of people who buy tickets to these things don't show up for one
reason or another and then want their money back. Granted, the
weather was not under your control, but policy is policy, and you knew
that ahead of time.

Yes.

I used to work in customer service for ticketmaster.

We had people that would buy ticket scalper tickets and when an event
was cancelled ask for that money back not the original price.

Ticketmaster is right. The accident on the interstate is not their
fault. It may not be fair and it may suck, but their right and you're
not getting your money back.

For example, last year I bought tickets to a St. Louis Rams game. The
week of the game, I had a bad knee injury and could not go to the
game. It wasn't the Rams fault I hurt my knee. So I gave the tickets
to a friend.

Basically, if it's the companies fault then you're entitled to a
refund.

I'm not a big fan of Ticketmaster, but in this case they were right .
. you're actually lucky they let you change seats (a few years ago,
better seats became available after I purchased tickets, but TM would
not allow me to exchange them. Was I happy? No, but was this their
policy, yes).

Sorry, but if I sold someone tickets to something and they didn't make
it I wouldn't refund their money . . .it has nothing to do with being
raised right ...I don't think anyone would expect their money back.

You purchased non-refundable concert tickets and weren't able to
attend the concert because of bad weather and a major accident on the
Interstate which prevented you from arriving in time for the concert.
Unfortunately, what happened was beyond TicketMaster's control and
therefore you are not entitled to a refund. There is, of course, no
excuse for rudeness on the part of the CSR you spoke with.

Ticketmaster is not mother nature.
Maybe you shouldn't have changed the date.
(Because of bad weather, maybe you should have prepared better, left
earlier that day, etc)
Good luck.

You stated you aware of the no refunds policy. So how can you get
upset with them for enforcing it? That's crazy. Yes, there was no need
for rudeness, but it appears you are out the cost of the tickets.

I rather surprised, Shannon, that you would even ask for a refund or
credit.

Everyone here is in agreement that Ticketmaster did their part and
Shannon, in no way, deserves what she is requesting.

It's these types of requests that water down Planetfeedback. For
every fifty-plus complaints, you may find one that is really
legitimate. Complaints like this are simply without merit.

You are absolutely right. I called Ticketmaster and requested good
weather that day and they screwed me once again! How can they let it
rain on the day of a concert!!!!!!

Unless Tickemaster was directly responsible for the weather mishap
that caused you to miss the show and you can proove that beyond a
reasonable doubt, they basically owe you nothing because their no
refund policy is clear.

While it would be nice, they aren't bound to remedy the situation.
It's much like "act of God" damage and insurance policies.

This is NO excuse for the way you were treated by one of their
representatives. That I agree wholeheartedly, it should have been
handled more professionally.

Is TicketMaster Fair?

Does the Pope you know what in the woods?

Is a bear Catholic?

If Satan himself ran a business even he would think they were
unethical.

That being said, you missed the show through no fault of TicketMaster.
Sorry, but you paid to sit in traffic.

So if you had sold me the tickets and they cost $100 total, and the
weather stopped me from going to the concert would YOU refund the
money to me and be content with losing $100 for nothing? I didn't
think so.

I'd take a helicopter next time, especially in the winter!

How is their fault that you missed the concert and then refund you for
the tickets. I really hope that you're kidding.

There is no real explanation of how the CSR was rude. What did he/she
say? Or were they "rude" simply because you didn't get your way?

You know, like traveller's insurance. I don't know where you can buy
it though. Otherwise, I don't see why they should refund a ticket
when there is a "no refunds" policy. As far as I know, you couldn't
have cancelled at all, let alone the day of the event due to traffic.

It stinks that you missed the concert, and if the CSR was rude that is
not appropriate. They were probably frustrated with all the calls,
but that is no excuse.

The customer-service rep should not have been rude but expecting a
refund -- especially after the fact -- is unreasonable. TicketMaster
(or the venue or the performer or someone) would have to take the loss
when it did nothing wrong, either.

What TicketMaster *could* do (but certainly is not obligated to do) is
a variation on what many non-profit theaters do, allow you to call
virtually up to show time to turn in your tickets so they can be
resold. With non-profits, it counts as a donation so you can take a
tax deduction. With TicketMaster, I suppose the way it would work
would be to give you a partial refund. Under such a system, if you
had a cell phone with you, you could have called and cut your losses
at the point it became apparent you were not going to make it to the
concert in time.

This is why airlines overbook flights.

It comes down to a choice about how the whole system is going to work.
We can

1. buy tickets that will guarantee us not only that we can get in if
we do show up but that we'll get specific seats, and assume some risk
because we won't get money back if we don't show up, or

2. buy tickets that we can have refunded if we don't show up, but that
will not be enough to ensure that we can even get in if we do show up,
much less that we'll get the kind of seats we want, or

3. buy tickets that will guarantee us seats if we do show up and that
will be refundable if we don't show up, but that cost a lot of extra
money so that everybody involved in putting the show on still gets
paid no matter how many people decide there's something else they'd
rather do.

While I have never successfully completed a transaction with
TicketMaster (I use Relay and I need wheelchair seating) and while I
don't like them for a whole lot of reasons, I don't have a problem at
all with their operating under scheme 1. While there are many things
in life that I don't control, I tend to have more control over whether
I show up for an event than over whether some other random strangers
do, and I don't have a ton of extra money lying around so that I help
people reserve seats in case they feel like going. (While I recognize
that this is not what happened with the OP, I submit that it is what
would happen if we moved to scheme 3 for live events.)

Of course the CSR should not have been rude. But to the best of my
knowledge, Shannon, I don't know you, and I have read enough letters
here by people who think anyone who doesn't give them whatever they
want is rude that I no longer take the word of people I don't know
that someone was rude to them unless they give a clear example.
Hanging up on you is probably unacceptable -- but you haven't
specified how long you'd been talking to her by that time. Not
responding at all to email is a specific omission that is clearly
unacceptable. I do hope that TicketMaster gets back to you to
apologize, but I don't think they deserve to lose money over the car
accident any more than you do.

No, the storm and accident weren't YOUR fault, but they weren't
Ticketmaster's fault, either.

I'm sorry you couldn't go to the concert -- concerts are expensive and
rare treats for me these days, and I can imagine your disappointment.

But no way, no how, is TicketMaster, of all companies (they are greedy
bastages!), is going to be nice to anybody.

This letter illustrates one of the peculiar aspects of purchasing
tickets for performances.

Ticketmaster is simply the middleman in this transaction. The letter
writer should actually be writing to the performer because it's the
performer who received the money from the ticket purchase (minus
fees, of course). All Ticketmaster receives is the service charge for
brokering the purchase. That's also why there can't be a
"Ticketmaster credit" because Ticketmaster hasn't received any money
to issue a credit against.

The only part that Ticketmaster could conceivably refund would be
their service charge. Even that is up for debate because Ticketmaster
did perform their end of the bargain...they made it possible for the
customer to buy the ticket and put the ticket in the customer's hands.
It could be said, after that, Ticketmaster is no longer part of the
equation. It would be nice if Ticketmaster would at least refund that
portion however they're under no obligation to do so...especially
since they make the "no refund" policy so clear.

Still, there is absolutely no excuse for the CSR to be rude to the
customer.

Unless the show is postponed to another date, you will not get a
refund, sorry. Although it's not your fault you didn't make the show,
it's not their's either. They do have a very strict no refund
policy.

That being said, it is not excuse for them to be rude about it.

This is where planning ahead comes in handy. You could have checked
the weather in advance, seen that it was going to be bad, and left
even earlier. Or possibly the day before and spent the night, avoiding
travel on the day that was supposed to have bad weather.

I had tickets to a show on the 21st. We had a VERY bad storm that day.
Fortunately we live in the same town where the show was being held and
were able to attend. However, there were MANY empty seats in what
should have been a sold-out theater. Many people had purchased tickets
(some more expensive than the $50 each I paid) they were unable to use
because of the storm.

When you make plans that require travel during a time of year when
weather can be a factor, you have to prepare to be disappointed. I've
lived in such an area all of my life, and have learned NOT to schedule
things that would leave me eating out-of-pocket costs if I am unable
to make it if the weather is bad. Live and learn.

When they changed my seats it made it so I had to go to will call,
they know I didn't use the seats. And I was only chargd once for the
tickets. I know they say no refund, its just the principal. They
shouldn't be allowed to do business like this and the CSR had no
reason to be so rude and then hang up on me as I wasn't rude or short
with her. She said she had been getting alot of calls about this show.
That's not my fault.

I hate to side with a company I loathe, but they do have a no refund
policy and it states that very clearly on each ticket.
Life happens and we just have to deal sometimes.

"we didn't use by no fault of our own"

It's unfortunate that you were unable to make the concert, but it
wasn't Ticket Master's fault that you missed the concert either.
Ticket Master also has no idea whether you really were there at the
concert or not.

Sure, you missed the concert through no fault of your own, but how
exactly is that TicketMaster's fault?

Look at it another way- they sold you seats and whether you used them
or not, they can't sell them to anyone else. Why should they be out
money because you couldn't attend? Unfortunately, something happened
that prevented you from using the seats, but that was not
Ticketmaster's fault.
I agree it's a big disappointment, but life works out that way
sometimes.

Ticketmaster is pure evil. Unfortunately, they basically have a
monopoly on ticket sales and can get away with it.

That said, they do say No Refunds on every concert ticket I've ever
purchased. I doubt they're going to give you a refund or credit. I'm
actually pretty surprised they let you trade up to the better seats.
Are you sure you weren't charged for both sets?