Not refunded booking fee?

[LeeUK]

Hate booking/admin fees they are all a con.

They charge a fee for using credit card, they charge a fee for debit cards, they charge a fee for posting the tickets, they charge a fee even if you print them yourself.

They charge a fee for charging a fee. All a scam and seriously needs looking into by some sort of regulation body.

I go to around 10 music gigs a year and these fees soon add up.

 

[airwave99]

They charge a fee for charging a fee. All a scam and seriously needs looking into by some sort of regulation body.

Agreed there, just like Budget airlines had to include taxes in their prices, I think gig promotors should include the booking fee in the overall price.

 

[R.O.S.S.I]

Still no reply. Might jog their memory tomorrow and then try via social media.

 

[Mynight]

Why not threaten with the social media side to get a faster response. Then after the refund go the social media route regardless

 

[Efour]

Plaster it all over #fb and #tw@tter Id expect to lose my deposit/booking fee if it were my own fault but what you have said is pretty unbelievable and low. Although legally if its printed they will probably get the other hand :/

 

[Hellsmk2]

I don't understand why people are so angry- a booking fee is for the company you booked the tickets with, not the event promoter. It's supposed to cover the costs of running the website you used, or the call centre you called.

Why would they refund that after you've made use of the facilities on offer? I worked at ticketmaster for a good few years during my uni days, and this was absolutely the norm.

On the other hand, extortionate booking fees are something worth getting ****ed about...

 

[Dolph]

Why should OP be out of pocket?

Why should the ticket middleman be out of pocket? They provided the service asked of them in facilitating the transfer of tickets between the host and the customer. The host's subsequent decision to cancel the event should not leave the agency out of pocket.

 

[Jono8]

Why should the ticket middleman be out of pocket? They provided the service asked of them in facilitating the transfer of tickets between the host and the customer. The host's subsequent decision to cancel the event should not leave the agency out of pocket.

So the ticket company is fine and still makes a nice bit of money, yet the customer has to hand over money for absolutely nothing in return? Great : /

 

[Dolph]

So the ticket company is fine and still makes a nice bit of money, yet the customer has to hand over money for absolutely nothing in return? Great : /

They didn't charge for the additional work of handing your refund, so they probably haven't made much at all...

 

[~Divine~Wind~]

Why should the ticket middleman be out of pocket? They provided the service asked of them in facilitating the transfer of tickets between the host and the customer. The host's subsequent decision to cancel the event should not leave the agency out of pocket.

But surely they should have some form of cover for this?
Liability insurance maybe?
Or simply they can claim lost revenue from the act that has cancelled?
Which shoudl of course be in their contracts.

Personally I see absolutely no reason for the OP to be out of pocket other than the companies sheer greed. Why on earth people think this is acceptable I don't know

They didn't charge for the additional work of handing your refund, so they probably haven't made much at all...

So you think it would be acceptable for them to refund in full but then say add an admin charge to refund the amount?

 

[[TW]Fox]

They didn't charge for the additional work of handing your refund so they probably haven't made much at all...

So what, the ticket handling company doesn't exist for the convenience of the customer it exists for the convenience of the promoter. If they are out of pocket they should seek redress with whoever it was they were selling on behalf of.

Full refund, anything less is unacceptable.

 

[mattyg]

To be fair the middle man shouldnt be out of pocket either. But they should be able to claim something back from the club/promoter

 

[[TW]Fox]

The middle man accepts that as a risk in the nature of his business model.

Just like a shop accepts the risk of having to refund faulty items which it simply bought from elsewhere.

 

[~Divine~Wind~]

As above the middle man should have proper contracts/protection in place so if an event is cancelled they have recourse thru whoever cancelled. Sod all to do with charging the OP for NOTHING

 

[grumpysculler]

Why should the ticket middleman be out of pocket? They provided the service asked of them in facilitating the transfer of tickets between the host and the customer. The host's subsequent decision to cancel the event should not leave the agency out of pocket.

Because this:

6.12 As suppliers generally, including ticket agencies and event promoters etc, are in a better position to insure against these losses; we consider it unfair that the consumer should bear them.

They don't say that the ticket seller should have to bear the cost, but that the consumer does not.

It seems to me that, in the event of a cancellation, the consumer should get a full refund from whoever sold the ticket. Those losses should then be claimed back from the performers or, more likely, attributed in accordance with the contract between ticket company and venue/performer.

business-to-business contracts generally do not have to be fair (there is a presumption of specific legal advice), but business-to-consumer ones do.

 

[Dolph]

Because this:



They don't say that the ticket seller should have to bear the cost, but that the consumer does not.

It seems to me that, in the event of a cancellation, the consumer should get a full refund from whoever sold the ticket. Those losses should then be claimed back from the performers or, more likely, attributed in accordance with the contract between ticket company and venue/performer.

business-to-business contracts generally do not have to be fair (there is a presumption of specific legal advice), but business-to-consumer ones do.

Broken window fallacy. The cost will still be passed on to the customers, because businesses can only get money from customers. The only difference is that everyone pays rather than just the impacted customers.

 

[sniffy]

I'm interested to see how this pans out. Keep us updated OP.

 

[[TW]Fox]

Broken window fallacy. The cost will still be passed on to the customers, because businesses can only get money from customers. The only difference is that everyone pays rather than just the impacted customers.

Which is correct because this sort of thing is just an expected cost of doing business. If your business model is selling concert tickets to the general public you must allow for the losses you'll incur if the concert is cancelled and the customer needs to be refunded. How you go about doing this - either by including it in the costs charged to the public or ensuring your contracts with venues include details of what will happen in the event of a cancellation - is up to you, but you cannot and should not take the profit from selling a ticket for a gig that never happens.

It is exactly the same as the losses incurred if you buy, say, a toaster from Argos which goes wrong 3 weeks later. Argos isn't to blame for the problem, they didn't make the toaster, but it's Argos who refund it in full and and carry the 'loss' (The credit from the supplier won't equal selling price+costs incurred).

Remember, ticket agents do not exist to make life easier to customers. Ticket agents exist because a market opportunity appeared as a result of bands or venues being unwilling or unable to sell and market tickets to the public themselves.

 

[jas72]

Hate booking/admin fees they are all a con.

They charge a fee for using credit card, they charge a fee for debit cards, they charge a fee for posting the tickets, they charge a fee even if you print them yourself.

They charge a fee for charging a fee. All a scam and seriously needs looking into by some sort of regulation body.

I go to around 10 music gigs a year and these fees soon add up.

totally agree even if you pick them up yourself there's still a fee

 

[Semple]

totally agree even if you pick them up yourself there's still a fee

The best fee i saw when i ordered my NBA tickets last year was an additional cost to email you the ticket and print at home, on top of the booking fee. I could understand if someone had to personally write you an email, but nowadays everything is automated.