Just booked some tickets through ATG Tickets for an event. On top of £45 for the 3 tickets I’ve been charged an additional 20% in fees on top to cover “the cost of services related to running a ticketing operation” and “the cost of processing bookings including delivery costs or arrangement for collecting tickets from the Box Office”.

Surely the former should be built into the ticket price and the later should either but built into the former or, given I paid on debit card and will be getting them posted, should be £1 max.

Now, I know this has likely been done but I was shocked quite how much these fees were, it feels like very dirty behavour

Had similar when buying tickets for a rugby game when I did it online. I thought fair enough (it was only £2) its for P&P etc.

I went to the shop for some tickets a couple of week after as I was near by. They still charged me it. I asked why and they said it was an ‘admin charge’ WTF!

Bought some tickets recently and there was a £2 charge for home printing!! I mean WTactualF??

It’s a scam that mugs have accepted for so long hat the ticket companies are ripping the arse right out of it.

The answer, of course, is “because they can.” The sooner Ticketbastard and their ilk get legislated the better.

It just doesn’t sit well with me at all. 1% extra for a credit card is fine, an extra £1 for postage is fine again but anything else is just downright deceitful.

Yup, they’re a bunch of gits.

On a happier note, I’ve just booked 3 tickets for the frankly amazing Daniel Kitson at the Gala theatre in Durham for £36. That’s right, £12 a ticket, no booking fee, no credit card surcharge, no admin fee. Gladdens the heart 🙂

The real fun begins when the event you bought tickets for is cancelled and the ticket agent only refunds the face value.

Ah thanks Chrissyboy, just reminded me I need to phone Nottingham playhouse 🙂

But yeah ticket fees are disgusting and it should be stopped, wasn’t there something passed about this a few years ago, but since then it seems to have got worse

It’s annoying, but don’t make the mistake of assuming you’re being ripped off. If they didn’t charge a booking fee, you’d just pay more for the ticket. Why they try and cover it up, I don’t know because it obviously has the opposite of the intended effect by annoying people. But don’t assume if there was a law against it you’d pay less.

It is stupid though. When I buy something in a shop, I don’t expect to be told I have to pay an extra fee when I get to the checkout because they need to pay rent on the shop, staff, etc.

I’d rather they do that, at least it’d be honest. It’s not about the price, it’s the bait & switch which pisses me off.

Agreed Cougar, show me the price I will pay per ticket, easy. I can live with a 1% charge for a credit card fee and a couple of quid for postage but everything else should be included.

As a sort of an aside…I’m sure it was either Showcase Cinemas or perhaps Warner Village (pre-VUE) that first introduced online ticketing for cinemas. Back then you got a 50p discount for booking online. 😆

It’s the ones that only have a ‘print at home’ option and then charge a ‘print at home’ fee that you have to select.

I remember the good old days when all the venues had a box office you could buy directly from. They charged for postage and that was it.

Our local council theater sells direct with no booking fee and you can pick up from the box office for free as well if you want. Just how it should be

iain1775 – Member
Ah thanks Chrissyboy, just reminded me I need to phone Nottingham playhouse

You’re welcome, enjoy!

I think the Irish plane git is the root of all this. He was the original master at layering over inflated costs for every last item that was extraneous to the product being sold and latterly, regardless of whether it was optional or mandatory.

And whilst we’re on at Ticketbastard and their ilk there’s the small issue of the secondary markets which they also run, but I think we’ve done that before.

Commercial scum.

it feels like very dirty behavour

Why, they’re telling you exactly what you’re paying? Surely the more dishonest way is hiding the charges? (for costs that are included in the price of every single item you’ll have ever bought, ever)

If the price of the ticket was £47 and the blurb had said “Hidden Charges Included” you’d be more angry, right?

EDIT: if the label on the shirt you bought said £15.00 for the shirt, £5 for transport, £1.50 for packaging, £6.00 for staff, £3 for depreciation…. would you still buy the shirt?

If the price of the ticket was £47 and the blurb had said “Hidden Charges Included” you’d be more angry, right?

No, because when I clicked on the ticket I knew it was going to cost me £47. It wouldn’t be a hidden charge as it is right there included in the price.

Happy consumer…

Band puts on a concert, wants to sell tickets but has no means to do so, so employs an agency to handle the sales on their behalf, band sets price of ticket and agency adds on their costs/profit etc.

if the label on the shirt you bought said £15.00 for the shirt, £5 for transport, £1.50 for packaging, £6.00 for staff, £3 for depreciation…. would you still buy the shirt?

If it said it on the label when I picked the shirt up then I would be able to make a decision if the shirt was worth £30.50 or not, what I wouldn’t like is the shirt having £15 on the label and then having £15.50 added at the till.

Band puts on a concert, wants to sell tickets but has no means to do so, so employs an agency to handle the sales on their behalf, band sets price of ticket and agency adds on their costs/profit etc.

Standard model, I understand that, so include on the ticket page the total cost to me to see that band. If the ticket cost £15 but the agency want another £5 on top, then another £4 to process it and send it then fine, but advertise the ticket cost as £24 because that is what it will cost me.

Partly to sucker you in and partly so they don’t have to refund the whole lot if the event is cancelled?

It’s why I only buy from touts, you pay more, but theres no deception…

I’ve just had a sudden thought,

Is it a tax fiddle as well? Are fees liable for tax in the same way as the tickets?

Eg, if I bought a ticket for £50, presumably £40 would go to the seller and £10 to the tax man. If the same ticket was free but subject to a £50 booking fee, do they then get to keep the full £50?

wordnumb – Member
The real fun begins when the event you bought tickets for is cancelled and the ticket agent only refunds the face value.

mudshark – Member
Partly to sucker you in and partly so they don’t have to refund the whole lot if the event is cancelled?

I got caught by this when a gig I had tickets for was cancelled earlier this year. There’s consumer guidance that states you probably should get a full refund but in my case it took escalating a PayPal dispute to a claim before the ticket company was anything but dismissive towards me. My thread about it here.

Hat-tip for Eventim.co.uk – just spotted this on a ticket sales page:

The price to attend the event, where displayed, includes the ticket price plus, where applicable, booking fee and Venue Restoration Levy. Additional per transaction charges, ranging from £2.50 for standard mail to £12.50 for Secure International Delivery apply.

Band puts on a concert, wants to sell tickets but has no means to do so, so employs an agency to handle the sales on their behalf, band sets price of ticket and agency adds on their costs/profit etc.

yeah but its not how it works is it

promoters set the price not the band

I hope one day a court realises it’s a scam and like PPI people will be claiming back all these charges.