Ticket brokers

**Sat Dec 10, 2005 2:45 am**

Presale for the 3/14 Boston show was a JOKE! Over in one minute.

Ticket brokers must be stopped. I KNOW they were the ones swooping in and grabbing up all the presale seats.

Anybody else have the same experience? If you're going to send out an e-mail, telling people about a presale, here's an idea, fucking have one!
Seems pretty clear to me that the whole thing was a sham, and that normal people had no chance.

This is ridiculous!!

I WILL get to see that show, but it sickens me that I'll likely have to shell out some ghastly, inflated price to a re-seller. Is the band aware of this?

Shocking. Tch.

**Sat Dec 10, 2005 3:37 pm**

unfortunately this shit has been going on forever...im sure the band are aware of it and theres not really a whole lot they can do about it. :cry:

**Sat Dec 10, 2005 10:35 pm**

Not much consolation I know, but it happens to us as well. I was poised over the ticket site for Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane in "the Odd Couple" on Broadway for New Year's Eve. GONE in SECONDS! I had to pay silly ebay prices.

Anyway, sorry. We can't change this system, though the big boys, the Stones, U2 etc, could change it if they wanted to.

**Sat Dec 10, 2005 11:01 pm**

philipchevron wrote: the Stones, U2 etc, could change it if they wanted to.

How so Mr. Chevron?

I know it's not quite the same thing but at the height of their fame Pearl Jam challenged the whole Ticketmaster cartel in front of the US Congress. Even with the entire concert-going public on their side their fight against outrageous Tickemaster charges eventually failed.

Although the issue here is smaller groups sweeping in to get tickets I'm not sure even "the big boys" could do anything about it. I guess we'll never know for sure.

**Sat Dec 10, 2005 11:11 pm**

With all due respect (or not - I never saw a congressman yet who did not err on the side of big business) to your congressmen and women, not to mention Pearl Jam, the ticket cartels can only exist as long as they are supported by the big names. It's just not a battle they feel like fighting, which is up to them.

The Amex thing is perhaps a different matter, as it makes it almost impossible to get prime early tickets if you do not have an American Express card, and I know many Stones fans got hit by this recently.

I know, it's a huge debate and this is perhaps not the time and place for it.

**Sat Dec 10, 2005 11:15 pm**

And, in fairness, it wasn't really the charges I was objecting to - personally I do not find the charges excessive given the convenience of the service provided. But they MUST be able to protect the consumer against scalpers, touts and scammers. I know many sites have a type-in code recognition system, but it self-evidently does not work.

**Tue Dec 13, 2005 12:16 am**

There are a few gigs here in California, performed by small bands too, where the bands request that all ticket sales are will-call only, which prevents any scalping. Unfortunately I've only heard of this a few gigs.

When I received my Pogues tickets in the mail for Dublin, I was very surprised to see my name printed on them, which is not the way in the states. That would be a great way to prevent any resale, checking your ID with your ticket.

They have to check your ID to drink anyway, why not just make sure the ticket holder and the ID are the same?

Ticket brokers

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