wsuffa
Touchdown! Greaser!
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
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