That's interesting, but brings up two more points:
First, which price do they state up front when you buy online? If it's the base price, then it's still wrong. My grocery store wouldn't be able to get away with advertising $1/pound at the location where I shop, charging me $2/pound, and saying that they do offer $1/pound as long as I travel to one of their other stores that offers it.
Second, why do people complain about TicketMaster so much if it's this easy to bypass? Is there some kind of hidden catch, or do all of these people hate these hidden fees enough to blog about them but not enough to go buy the tickets in person?
In many ( most) cases it's impractical for people to buy tickets at the venue. Even leaving out situations where tickets sell out quickly the costs associated with going to a downtown box office tend to exceed the fees annoying as they are--and even in person there tend to be various facility fees and the like.
It can't be fees for buying in person, since I'm being told that buying in person with no fees is how they can get away with advertising a the base price. As for the inconvenience of buying in person, that really doesn't seem to add up, but I suppose people really could prefer to spend an extra $60 over going to the venue in person to buy.
First, which price do they state up front when you buy online? If it's the base price, then it's still wrong. My grocery store wouldn't be able to get away with advertising $1/pound at the location where I shop, charging me $2/pound, and saying that they do offer $1/pound as long as I travel to one of their other stores that offers it.
Second, why do people complain about TicketMaster so much if it's this easy to bypass? Is there some kind of hidden catch, or do all of these people hate these hidden fees enough to blog about them but not enough to go buy the tickets in person?