Friday 10 February 2012

You Want Me To Pay You For What?


Today I bought movie tickets online. I don’t usually do so, but we didn’t want to risk missing out. Everything was fine until I noticed I was being charged $3.65 per ticket administration fee!

What?!

Just so we’re clear, let me get this straight…. There is virtually no cost to you in selling tickets to me online, but you want to charge me an administration fee? A per person administration fee? When whatever costs you might be incurring can’t possibly be related to the number of tickets I purchase but are surely related to the number of transactions? I’m positive the costs are higher to sell me a ticket at the cinema, but there’s administration fee attached to that!

This is just outrageous. Essentially the cinema has reduced its costs and is charging me more. Double whammy! 

Even more outrageous is the practices in outlets selling tickets to concerts and the like. We have two, in Australia. When you choose your tickets, you also choose if you want to pick them up in person, have them mailed to you, or have them emailed to you and you print them yourself. The bizarre thing about this arrangement is all of them have an administration fee attached.

I understand postage if the tickets are posted. In the world of online sales, everything has postage. Mostly. Unless you spend more than a certain amount, which come to think of it, is less than what two concert tickets usually cost. And really it costs $.065 to send a standard letter envelope and you want to charge me $8.50? You had to twist my arm, but you’ve convinced me there really is no excuse for charging so much to deliver tickets by standard mail. 

I will accept the $8.50 charge to pick the tickets up from the box office. These days everyone wants to encourage people NOT to come to their office. There’s probably something weird about that… anyhoo, moving along to the real whopper...

An administration fee to have my tickets emailed to me? What does it cost you to email my tickets to me? Nothing. So… basically I’m paying you for the privilege to use my own ink and paper to print my own tickets… 

To add insult to injury, I believe they lump a transactional administration fee on top and, if you’re paying by credit card (what? This is an online purchase, right?) they’ll charge you a surcharge as well. 

Hold on a minute, I just have to do an invoice up. Right, my bill for the ticket agency to outsource their ticket-printing facility to me is now in the mail. Terms are 14 days, got it?

If you enjoyed this post, please feel free to check out my previous posts if you haven't already. If you're finding yourself here often, you might like to join as a member, sign up to the blog through RSS or email, or subscribe to my newsletter.
Don't forget to share the love and spread the word on Twitter, Facebook or StumbleUpon (or other social networking site of your choice) if you know other people who might also enjoy this. 
Thanks for stopping by and visiting with us!

25 comments:

DC said...

I get so angry when I'm charged an admin fee for purchasing tix online. You're absolutely right. Total ripoff!

Christina Carson said...

I remember reading a story about Costco when, on a second batch of jeans, they got an even better wholesale price than the first. What did they do, rather than taking the extra profit as a windfall, they cut the basic price for the jeans even more. Their value system is unfortunately rare.

Christina Majaski said...

I noticed something similar when I was buying kids stuff from JC Penney. The costs to have it sent to my house were the same as if I picked it up from the store (ordering online though). I think the fees are making up for the convenience of purchasing things online.

Kelly Gamble said...

My husband always wants me to buy movie tickets on line for him and he can't seem to understand how much more it costs. It's ridiculous.

Ciara Ballintyne said...

Yeah, I mean, admin, what admin? In an online sale, I'VE done all the admin, so why am I paying THEM? It's like self-serve checkouts. If I have to scan my own purchases, I want a discount representing the cost savings to the shop and the reduced service to me!

Ciara Ballintyne said...

Yes, most places would just pocket the difference. The Australian dollar is good at the moment. Are imports cheaper? No. What are people doing? Buying direct from overseas because its cheaper (tax saving as well...). What are the retailers doing? Complaining. Hello, if you're saving money, try passing it on to the customer and they might not be tempted to go elsewhere. Don't even get me started on banks not cutting interest rates when the official rate goes down...

Ciara Ballintyne said...

The best deals come from stores that are ONLY online. I'm generally picky about which stores I use and I look for ones that have good postage deals (flat rate no matter how much you buy and/or free if you spend more than $x). Unfortunately ticket outlets have me at something of a disadvantage, being more or less a monopoly...

Ciara Ballintyne said...

I would generally rather wait in the queue! It's really nothing but consumer bullying.

Darke said...

I know, the price of seeing a movie now adays is absurd. I've never bought tickets online. It's easier for me to pop in and get them in person and I generally buy advance tickets. Save me the hassle of waiting in line opening night.

Janeisaac said...

I agree with you - it is a damn cheek. But the reality is that if you drive across early to secure tickets (from where I live), you waste more than the booking fee on fuel. So, I'm afraid I do buy online. Hate arriving with all the hopes of watching a film that has sold out.

Dee said...

Got to love the whole charge you for nothing and no service thing or "convenience fee" that is more convenient for them. It's simply amazing that they can do away with the paper, printing, possibly some personnel, etc and actually think they should ask for more. Kind of like the cell company that was going to charge a service fee for paying your bill online...

Donald Pennington said...

Good reason to quit concerts...y'know...the bullshit...

Peter Hobbs said...

The government has been doing this for years, charging you a tax and giving you little or nothing in return. But we Sheeple keep lining up and taking it on the chin. Thanks for letting us know it is spreading.

Peter Hobbs said...

Nice post Ciara, but really, the governments of the world have been doing this to us for years, taxing us more and more and providing less and less service in return. Sorry to see it has spread to the theaters, I quit going to the movies when it got over $8 per ticket here in the USA, I can wait 2 months and rent it for a dollar.

Ciara Ballintyne said...

I don't go often enough that it matters that much, and when we do, I would usually buy them on the night. This was an exception.

Ciara Ballintyne said...

That's the worst, where they force you to pay their ludicrous fee!

Ciara Ballintyne said...

Really? A service fee for paying online Our phone company now charges a service fee for receiving paper bills, but I can kind of see that, they want to encourage electronic bills, which are cheaper and more environmentally friendly. That at least makes sense.

Ciara Ballintyne said...

I don't go to many, not even once a year. My favourite artists rarely come to Australia.

Ciara Ballintyne said...

You expect it from governments. It's not a true customer relationship because you can never see where your dollar goes. believe me, I pay more tax and get nothing from my government because they insist on means testing everything these days. They're about to increase my health insurance by removing my rebate - all for the cheek of paying more taxes! How DARE I? But this kind of thing you expect.

I rarely go to the movies now, but when my husband and I have a rare child-free evening we do sometimes enjoy dinner and a movie.

Ciara Ballintyne said...

Technical problems? ;-)

Thank, Q said...

I do hate admin fees, but I also hate the fact how ticket offices are allowed to take a ticket with the face value of $20 and sell it to me for a price of $100.

Ciara Ballintyne said...

I'm not as familiar with that practice, but I do agree it sounds scandalous!

Matthew Graybosch said...

I thought this sort of extortion was the province of TicketMaster and similar outfits like LiveNation. They call it a "convenience fee". I'd call it robbery, but I've never met a mugger with the temerity to tell me he was doing me a favor as he robbed me.

Ciara Ballintyne said...

Yes, ticketmaster is one of the guilty parties! So is Ticketek. You're absolutely right, it is basically robbery under the guise of a favour, which is part of what really rubs me the wrong way about it. You think this is bad, wait until you see my post about Daylight Robbery! It's probably going up in April.

Matthew Graybosch said...

I'll be watching, Ciara. :)

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Real Time Analytics