Buying tickets from Ticketmaster.ca is like playing a weird version of the slots. You never know what the service charges are going to be — and thus the total cost — until you hit the “find tickets” button, fill in the captcha codes and wait for the site to generate the results.
This is one of Ticketmaster Canada’s more infuriating aspects and the company, along with the Jubilee Auditoria in Edmonton and Calgary, are quietly testing changes to alleviate consumer frustration.
When you now look for tickets to any Jube shows, you’ll notice the total price is listed up front on the site. Then, by clicking on an arrow, you’ll get an instantaneous breakdown of the service charges — or what Ticketmaster calls a “fee roll-up display.”
Let’s say you want to buy a main-floor seat to ZZ Top’s show on Saturday, Nov. 28 in Edmonton — the full price is listed as $116.10. Click the arrow and you’ll find out you’ll pay $103.95 for the ticket and $12.15 in service charges.
It’s a small step, but the director of both venues, Katherine Huising, welcomes the change. “It is something we’ve been asking for,” she says. “It serves our patrons better.”
The Jubilees are the only two venues in Canada beta-testing this new initiative with Ticketmaster Canada. Five venues in the U.S. are also doing the same with Ticketmaster.com.
Christine Hall, director of sales and marketing for Ticketmaster Canada, says these tests are the results of online surveys filled out by ticket buyers. They want to know what the service charges are up front.
“That’s the feedback we’ve gotten through the surveys,” she says. “We take consumer feedback and try to adapt what we’re offering to the public and our clients.”
Hall says the Jubes were selected as test subjects because of Huising’s expertise in the concert industry. Another two Canadian clients will be added in the second test phase. “She understands the intricacies — meeting consumer needs, as well as her needs from a venue perspective, and promoter needs,” says Hall.
“We’ve gone out and had conversations with a number of venues and introduced them to the concept. Katherine volunteered the Jube.”
She says Ticketmaster Canada only publicly started testing the concept about two or three weeks ago. “So far, it’s going well,” says Hall. “We’re looking for feedback.”
Earlier this year, Ticketmaster Canada was slapped with four class-action lawsuits over its service charges and its resale site, TicketsNow.com.
Norm Brandsma, a music fan from Edmonton, filed one of those suits. It alleges Ticketmaster’s charges and fees are illegal because they are added to the face value of tickets.
-- Taken from my story in The Edmonton Journal
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