Ticketmaster–They Don’t Care
Let me tell you what happens when a company gains near monopoly power. First, it overcharges. Then, it allows its customer service to go to hell.
Case in point:
Last week, we toured the awesome new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. We had a wonderful time. The tour guides and gift shop personnel were exceptional in their customer service. Unfortunately, the experience lost something thanks to my experience with Ticketmaster.
Since we were coming up from Austin and since our party included a Cowboys fanatic visiting from Florida, I wanted to be sure we had tickets for the proper time of day. I had noted on the Cowboys website that tour tickets for seniors are $12. Ticketmaster quoted me a price of $14.16, plus $2 each for a convenience fee plus $5 for handling the order. Total–$53.48, almost $18 a ticket, $6 more than the team charges at the stadium.
I am ready to accept the convenience fee, money I presume goes to give Ticketmaster its cut. Although it’s a stretch, I am even willing to accept the handling fee. When I asked the Ticketmaster woman on the phone why each ticket cost $2.16 more than the Cowboys’ $12 price, however, she did not know. I asked to speak to a supervisor. He also could not explain it, first calling it a convenience fee and then a handling fee, which I pointed out is not correct, since they are additional. I said it’s $12 on the Cowboys’ website and he said, “well our price is $14.16.” I said why is your price different from the Cowboys and his classic answer was, “I don’t care.” I then raised my voice, which I regret, and pointed out that “I’m the customer and you don’t care?” He then screamed at me, “I don’t care” and hung up.
I presume this is not the way the Cowboys want to be represented. I’m sure that if Jerry Jones called one of the top Ticketmaster executives they would take his call. I urge him to make that call and tell them that they must treat his fans better than that. I don’t care about the $6 I lost. I do care about the terrible way I was treated. I hope he will tell these out of control monopolists that they need to shape up their customer service. All we ask is that they “care.”
Full disclosure: I’m a Pittsburgh Steelers fanatic, but our guest is a lifelong Cowboy who was thrilled by the tour. Either way, no Ticketmaster customer should be treated this way.
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