The Consumer Complaints Blog

I first wrote TicketMaster on June 28th. I received just an automatically generated acknowledgement but was otherwise ignored.

On July 7th I wrote to BBB and they said its outside their purview.

Am I alone in getting such a bad treatment from TicketMaster?

I am sure you have a better take on this than me but if you are getting other complaints add mine to them.

Here’s the original complaint:

Better Business Bureau of Mid-Western and Central Ontario
COMPLAINT ACTIVITY REPORT Case # 1213844

Consumer’s Original Complaint:
This is what I wrote Ticketmaster on June 28th, 2010:

Hi, I am writing to inform you of the very bad service we received from TicketMaster yesterday. My son lost his ticket for the Sanatana concert and we went to the Ticketmaster Retail Outlet at Oakville Place Mall Guest.

The persons who attended us were courteous and helpful and tried to do the best they could in the circumstances. They had to call Ticketmaster centre five times to resolve the issue however. On three of those times they explained the problem and they told them to hold on only for the line to be cut. On another occasion they were cut off as soon as they mentioned the lost ticket.

On the last we got a lady on the phone who said that we had to pay $15 for the replacement ticket (when the original costs $28.75, that’s more than 50%). Not only so, though, but I, his father, had to pick it up personally before the show rather than the replacement ticket being mailed to me ! And this even though my son showed them the proof of payment via his bank account statement. (I got in the picture because I had a credit card and Ticketmaster would not accept my son’s driect debit card for the extra $15.) This took us more than one hour to resolve.

The lady on the phone was also generally rude. I told the lady I was going to complain in writing about this and she told me I can do whatever I wanted. You can check our phone calls between 2PM and 3PM Sunday June 27th from that retail outlet to verify.

I am writing this because I feel that customers should be treated much better: (1) no hanging up from Ticketmaster’s side, (2) the replacement fee should be much less, (3) replacement tickets should be sent by mail, (4) direct debit cards should be accepted especially when proof of payment for the original ticket is presented, and (5) courteous service. Finally, in this day and age, since every ticket has a number, I don’t know why Ticketmaster don’t just cancel the first ticket and issue an new one once they see proof of payment.

I am writing because I would like an apology within 48 hours from a senior manager at Ticketmaster. I also want a promise that management would look into this case as a case study so that they improve their customer service especially as regards replacement tickets. It’s in your own best interest, after all.

If I don’t get an apology, I am going to take this further so that the public at large and the concert organizers would know what service is being meted out to paying customers.
Regards, Paul (name hidden for privacy)

Since writing I received nothing back except that the email has been received (and other info which was not relevant to this case). As expected, I received no apology for the inconvenience nor any indication that the company cares or wishes to improve customer service. But I guess one expects this from Ticketmaster.

Consumer’s Desired Resolution:
Just an email from a senior executive apologizing for the inconvenience caused and a promise from his or her that they would look into customer service in order to improve it.

BBB Processing
2010-07-07 web BBB Complaint Received by BBB\par 2010-07-07 BEA BBB CASE JUDGED TO BE OUT OF BBB PURVIEW : Under $20. bk\par 2010-07-07 Otto BBB INFORM CONSUMER – CASE CLOSED OUT OF PURVIEW : May we suggest contacting the Ministry of Consumer Services at 1-800-889-9768 or 416-326-8800. bk\par 2010-07-07 Otto BBB Case Closed as BEYOND PURVIEW
========================================================================
BBB Complaint Case#1213844(Ref#32-1090941-1213844-3-11010)

> Complaint ID#: 1213844
> Business Name: Ticketmaster Canada Ltd
>
> Thank you for contacting your BBB regarding your complaint.
>
> The complaint was received by your BBB on July 7, 2010 and has been assigned case# 1213844 in our files.
>
> We regret to inform you that your BBB cannot process your complaint. The case has been reviewed by one of our Complaint Administrators and was found to contain issues that are out of your BBB’s purview.
>
> It is our policy to process only those complaints that fall into your BBB’s scope. Items such as landlord/tenant issues, criminal allegations, requests for punitive damages, pricing issues, employer/employee disputes, cases already involved in litigation, civil right violations, business to business collection issues, cancellation of contracts, complaints under the value amount of $20, anonymous complaints, remove collection reports, etc, are not handled by your BBB.
>
> Thank-you for contacting your BBB.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Bea Krieschneider
> Consumer Consultant
> BBB Complaint Department
> [email protected]

Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.