?Boss? bummed out by Ticketmaster[SIZE=-1]
Bruce Springteen barely had time to bask in the glow of his Super Bowl half-time spectacular last Sunday, when the Boss says he was blindsided by an attempt by Ticketmaster**to steer his fans to a sister site that charged wildly inflated prices for seats to his upcoming concerts.
On Monday, tickets to see Springsteen and the E Street Band went on sale at Ticketmaster, with prices topping out at around $100 face value at various venues around the country. When fans logged on to request tickets at face value, however, Ticketmaster, redirected those requests to TicketsNow, an alternate site owned by Ticketmaster where *those who already have tickets can resell them for whatever the market will bear. When I checked TicketsNow on Thursday, seats were being peddled for hundreds, even thousands of dollars.*We reported extensively on ticket resellers last summer. Click here*to read our story.*
Ticketmaster?s actions didn?t sit well with Springsteen because plenty of seats to various shows remained available at their regular price. A furious Springsteen condemned the practice and got Ticketmaster to apologize and back off.
?We perceive this as a pure conflict of interest,? he said in a letter to fans. ?Ticketmaster is there to ensure that we have a good, fair sale of our tickets at their face value plus normal ticketing charges.
?We know the many cynical arguments some make in favor of the Ticketmaster system: There are rumors that some artists or managers participate in Ticketmaster charges--we do not. There are rumors that some artists or managers are receiving a percentage of the amount above face value at secondary outlets like TicketsNow--we do not. Some artists or managers may not perceive there to be a conflict between having the distributor of their tickets in effect ?scalping? those same tickets through a secondary company like TicketsNow--we do.
*?The abuse of our fans and our trust by Ticketmaster has made us as furious as it has made many of you. We will continue to do our utmost now and in the future to make sure that these practices are permanently curtailed on our tours,? Springsteen said.
Springsteen?s scathing reaction prompted a written apology from Ticketmaster, which the rocker posted on his Web site:
?While we were genuinely trying to do the right thing for fans in providing more choices when the tickets they requested from the primary on-sale were not available, we clearly missed the mark. Fans are confused and angry, which is the opposite of what we hoped to accomplish. We sincerely apologize to Bruce, his organization and, above all, his fans.
We recognize that we need to change our course. We have committed to Bruce and state publicly here that we have taken down all links for Bruce's shows directing fans from Ticketmaster to TicketsNow. This redirection only occurred as a choice when we could not satisfy fans' specific search request for primary ticket inventory, but to make sure there is no misunderstanding in the future, we also publicly state that we will never again link to TicketsNow in a manner that can possibly create any confusion during a high-demand on-sale. Specifically, we will not present an option to go to TicketsNow from Ticketmaster without the consent of the artist and the venue.?
The letter goes on to say that if any fans ?inadvertently? bought tickets in the resale marketplace believing in error they were purchasing from the initial on-sale, "Ticketmaster will refund the difference between the actual purchase price and the face price of the ticket. (Please don't abuse this good faith gesture - we did not give brokers any preferential access to tickets.)
*We are committed to helping deliver the most transparent and best live entertainment experience to fans. We will do better going forward.?*
On Wednesday, the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs
announced it was investigating Monday's sale of Springsteen concert tickets after receiving more than 250 complaints.
"Consumers are questioning what transpired and if they had an equal opportunity to purchase these concert tickets. We share these concerns and are investigating this matter," Attorney General Anne Milgram said in a press release.
The Division of Consumer Affairs has placed an icon labeled "Bruce Springsteen/Ticketmaster Complaints" on its*home page**for consumers to link to an online complaint form.
Investigators will review submitted complaints to determine how the online sales process was conducted and whether any violations of the state's Consumer Fraud Act or ticket resale law occurred.
At the end of his letter,*Springsteen took the opportunity to speak out against a proposed merger between Ticketmaster and rival concert promotion giant Live Nation, warning of a "near-monopoly" situation that could make the*current system of concert ticket distribution ? a system many already perceive to be unfair and laden with *high fees ? even worse.
*
*
[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]Subscribe now![/SIZE]
Subscribe to [SIZE=-1]ConsumerReports.org[/SIZE] for expert Ratings, buying advice and reliability on hundreds of products. [SIZE=-1]Update your feed preferences[/SIZE]