Major League Baseball - add-on ticketing fees

wsuffa

wsuffa

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Bill S.
I rarely go to major league sporting events. Was given tickets to Saturday's game for the Washington Nats (gnats?)... and I'm taking a couple of folks.

So I thought we'd park by the stadium instead of taking Metro (the subway - for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the crowds and limited weekend service).

The Nats have some nearby parking lots that you can reserve and buy your parking ticket online. It's done through the MLB site.

MLB makes Ticketmaster look like pikers.

The lot I chose is advertised at $15 (that's cheaper than 4 on the subway, and much cheaper than a cab ride). If you select that, you're socked with a $2.00 convenience fee. OK, I expect that and I'm willing to pay for the convenience, so I'm fine with it.

But wait, there's more. When you go to check out, you're hit with a $3.50 order processing fee. You're also given the chance to print the parking pass online - or go to Will Call (how in the heck you can go to will call before you park is beyond me)... printing online is an additional $1.75 per.

Let's add it up:
Parking fee: $15.00
Convenience fee: $2.00
Processing fee: $3.50
Delivery $1.75
___________
Total: $22.25

What's worse is that there's no indication up front of the fees that will be assessed. You don't find out until late in the process - for the processing and delivery fee, you've got to create your account and enter credit card info. And for what? I did all the work, they don't have to handle cash, and their cost is negligible.

Now this is what the worst team in all of baseball is charging for parking. And they wonder why folks don't come out to the ballpark and buy $8 beers?

Sigh. At least the tickets were free to me.

The cellphone industry still has a lot to learn.

RANT OVER
 
smigaldi said:
I'll bet you will be ranting more when you get there and get ripped off some more.

I stopped going to sporting event cause of junk like this. Greedy SOBs.
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I actually enjoy minor league sports (baseball).

Much more reasonable - and more fun with audience participation. And cheaper than a movie.

The sports (and entertainment/concert and movie) business model is one I know very well. The performers get almost all of the gate - and the promoters make their money on parking/beer/concessions/etc. If they could find a way to charge for toilet use, they'd get you both coming and going ;)
 
smigaldi said:
...I stopped going to sporting event cause of junk like this. Greedy SOBs.
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I don't buy any tickets from Ticketmaster or such. If I can't get the tickets at the venue I don't go.

Once I called from the office and after hearing about the convenience fee, etc, each time I thought a little bit and said OK, then the guy started a pitch to sell me magazines. After a few seconds of this I told him to forget the order - it seemed he had never heard such a thing before - hung up and walked the mile or so to the box office.

I think the fee was $20 for the "convenience" of listening to the guy try to sell me magazines.
 
I gave up on MLB when the Giants lost a 6 game series to the Rockies. That's not WHY I gave up, only to set a time frame. It's been that long since I went to a game.

Why I gave up is because of the namby pamby players and owners all whining about not making enough $$$. Over paid crybabys!

I recently paid $126 for 4 seats to the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus. The seats were advertised for $24 each but the hidden fees brought the price up. Even the discount coupon printed in the local paper didn't live up to the bargain. It was after the purchase was transacted that it was revealed the coupon applied to only 2 seats. No where was this restriction mentioned.

All this to have the opportunty to buy $5.50 12 oz sodas and $12 cotton candy.

These tactics have spread like wildfire through the business world although special events have refined the duplicity.
 
local minor leauge team is free parking. good seats are 10 feet away from the cheap seats, and the difference is 8 bucks vs. 6 bucks.
 
Every business has add-on fees. The "regulated" utilities add fuel delivery charges, cable adds franchise fees, and don't get me started on "Shipping and Handling" charges. A local consumer reporter said part of this is done to look more competitive. It's hard to comparison shop when these fees are not spelled out during the transaction.
I like the cancellation fee or "restocking" fee both of which I've seen as much as 25%. And travel insurance is a joke. Some businesses write the contract with all the numbers on it then leave the consumer to figure out which they do not need (vacation rental added fees for towels, sheets, early check in, travel insurance, security deposit, midweek cleaning).
The best you can do is figure out whether you overpaid based on other places nearby. You could write a complaint but that probably wouldn't make a difference. Or, you can go somewhere else next time.
The new business model is to hide the real costs from the consumer.
 
silver-eagle said:
The new business model is to hide the real costs from the consumer.
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Yep. Banks and travel providers are up there with the "worst", too. I won't stay in Scottsdale again - the add-ons (local taxes and hotel fees) added 30% to the room cost.

And banks... if Congress thinks that financial regulatory reform will "protect the consumer" from this sort of thing, they need to look at every other business provider.

Sports/entertainment events are the worst, though, because their entire business model relies on such fees.
 
wsuffa said:
Yep. Banks and travel providers are up there with the "worst", too. I won't stay in Scottsdale again - the add-ons (local taxes and hotel fees) added 30% to the room cost.
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Lots of big city hotels worldwide do this hidden tax/resort/service charge fee thing. Ticks me off to no end.

Look what airlines are doing now too. $89 ticket one way is what they advertise. Then they add it gate fee, baggage fee, bathroom fee, pilot fee, bag of pretzel fee, etc.
 
I was just thinking about the way various tickets are advertised, then you are stung for all the extra fees.

I have great tickets for CSN in Denver for their upcoming show. 2 tix @ 79.50 each, plus 11.95 per ticket service charges. (Only got them because I get to go backstage after the show... so I'm not really complaining, just pointing out the amount of extraneous fees) Those fees represent about 15% of the ticket price.

To get back to Denver for the show on Frontier Airlines, $256.76 for 2 tickets, plus $58.64 in additional fees... the fees represent an additional 22% of the original cost of the ticket.

But over all, obviously few of you have ever visited Vail... first you get to pay $22 to park for the day, then $98 to ski, lunch will cost you $21.00 ($12 burger, $4.50 fries, $4.50 soda). Don't even begin to ask what you'd pay for my services for a day (and don't forget the tip!)... I don't want you to have a heart attack! lol But at least these costs are all clearly expressed up front, not adding 15-25% after the fact.

But as you might expect- every resort community will hammer the visitor to help pay for their infrastructure costs. Bed tax, rental car tax, restaurant tax, etc, etc..... those who stay will pay. Every major city charges these too. So it's not uncommon to expect everyone else to have their hand in your pocket every time you go out....
 
Hell. you weren't even in the park yet! Let the bleeding begin with concession prices...
 
Lobo Basketball: The only thing worth seeing.

Tickets: $5-$22
Beer: Not Sold (NCAA Rules. boo)
Sodas: $5 in a souvenir cup holding 24oz., $3.50 in a normal Pepsi Cup holding 32oz.
Players: Unpaid
Parking: Free or $2.50

College basketball is seriously where the good athleticism and value lies. Check it out.
 
New Cowboys stadium parking: $75.00. Really.

Pizza at Cowboys game: $90.00 Really.

I do not anticipate ever going to a Cowboys game.

===

Also: "Resort Fee" at resort hotels; you cannot book a room there without also paying the resort fee, which in my view, makes the quoted room rate a fraud.

"Convenience fee" for buying concert tickets: if there is no "inconvenient" way to buy them (most venues delegate TicketMaster or their equivalent as exclusive sales agent), then any c harge over face is fraud.

"Regulatory compliance fee" and the like on telecom bills: BS, they want you to think it's a tax or something, but it's just more charge, over and above the quoted rate. Again, BS.
 
SCCutler said:
..."Convenience fee" for buying concert tickets: if there is no "inconvenient" way to buy them (most venues delegate TicketMaster or their equivalent as exclusive sales agent), then any c harge over face is fraud.
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My experience is although the box office in the building still uses Ticketmaster's computers to handle the tickets, they don't change the "convenience fee" on site.

If they charge say $12 a ticket and you're buying 4, you can drive pretty far and break even on $48. It's only a loss when the time could be billed like for you. :D

SCCutler said:
"Regulatory compliance fee" and the like on telecom bills: BS, they want you to think it's a tax or something, but it's just more charge, over and above the quoted rate. Again, BS.
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They'll disclose that fees aren't taxes or required by the govmint in the fine print AND you'll hear the total monthly and one time charges before you hang up the phone when ordering - you're free to cancel even afterwards Don't ask me how I know this. :D

It would be nice if there were sites where you could compare the whole bills. There needs to be some state regulation like we have where the gas stations here have to post the price on the pump and in IL they don't even add sales tax to that like Indiana, for example, does.
 
Here's another one- propane tanks. In NE, they don't have to tell you how much you are getting for the price you pay. I don't remember anyplace where they tell you how much the tank is filled.
 
For you lawyer types: What constitutes ticket scalping? I always heard that >5% over face value is illegal. How is different if Ticketbastards are selling them at >15% over face value if I can't ?

Mike
 
michael Killacky said:
For you lawyer types: What constitutes ticket scalping? I always heard that >5% over face value is illegal. How is different if Ticketbastards are selling them at >15% over face value if I can't ?

Mike
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Depends on state laws.

I think here in IL ticket brokers, which really are worse and are scalpers, get away with it by saying they sell the ticket at face value and merely add a 200-1000% fee.

http://www.ticketbroker.com/mlbtickets.asp
 
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