Fans First

Letter: Bill makes it easier for scalpers to sell tickets

admin — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 14:23:06 +0000

What’s wrong with this picture? The Florida Legislature wants to make it easier for scalpers to sell their tickets to concerts and sporting events, so the consumer pays higher prices, by stopping venues and artists from selling paperless tickets, the one tool concert and sporting event goers have of counteracting scalpers buying huge blocks of good seats.

Paperless tickets require purchasers to pick up their tickets themselves by scanning the credit card used to buy the seat. This policy of paperless tickets helps curtail scalpers’ greed. While it doesn’t guarantee front-row seats, it does help level the playing field or concert stage a little bit.

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Scalpers trying to make money off local beer festival

admin — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 18:01:09 +0000

Scalpers are pushing up the cost of attending what has become a very popular winter festival in West Michigan.

Tickets for this years Winter Beer Festival, held at Fifth Third Ballpark, sold out in record time. Now, people are trying to sell those $40 tickets for well above face value.

“They were selling them for anywhere from two to three times the face value, which in Michigan is against the law. It’s very clear that you can’t sell them for more than face value,” says Eric Briggeman, President of the Michigan Brewers Guild.

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Guest column: Make scalpers accountable in ticket fairness

admin — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 17:59:07 +0000

With “Romeo and Juliet” playing the Orpheum theater, Elizabeth Ellington had the perfect opportunity to introduce her young children to classical theater. She went online, Googled “Orpheum + Romeo and Juliet” and dialed Box Office Memphis.

Ellington, who is from Jackson, Tenn., was about to become a victim of the treacherous ticket resale market that can cause frustrating and expensive trouble for fans of live entertainment.

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RBTL Faces Problems With Ticket Scalping

admin — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 17:23:59 +0000

The Rochester Broadway Theatre League said its patrons have faced numerous problems with secondary ticket sellers of late, particularly from websites unaffiliated with the RBTL.

“It’s awful because it always happens during the really popular, hot shows,” said Linda Glosser, Executive Vice President of the RBTL.

There are two problems related to tickets, according to Glosser.

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Houston Rodeo tickets being sold for thousands of dollars apiece, officials angry

admin — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:21:48 +0000

The Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo is coming and as usual, some major concerts will be part of the show.

However, the KHOU 11 News I-Team found it may cost you thousands of dollars to get a good seat at some of the shows. That has some folks at the Rodeo steaming mad because they’re not the ones charging those ridiculous prices.

Every year, many rodeo tickets are spoken for long before the box office opens. They go to season ticket holders and other Rodeo insiders.

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Despite efforts against scalping, inauguration tickets offered online with steep markups

admin — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 20:32:48 +0000

Tickets to President Barack Obama’s inauguration are supposed to be free, but they’re being peddled on eBay and Craigslist for up to $2,000 apiece.

Congressional offices and the Presidential Inaugural Committee, which are both distributing tickets to inaugural events, are trying to clamp down on the black market. So far, their efforts haven’t stopped online entrepreneurs.

“These tix are going like hot cakes, and for FAR more than I am listing them for on here,” boasted one anonymous seller in a post Wednesday on the website Craigslist.

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Buying Packers playoff tickets? Watch for scammers

admin — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 22:04:36 +0000

The Wisconsin Better Business Bureau is warning Green Bay Packers fans to be wary of scammers selling playoff tickets.

The bureau says sports fans can be easily scammed when buying tickets outside the stadium, on the street or through online auctions, classified ads and bulletin boards.

Wisconsin BBB President Randall Hoth says fans can get burned by purchasing counterfeit tickets or paying in advance for tickets that never arrive.

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Watch out for Ravens tickets scammers, BBB says

admin — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 15:55:47 +0000

Watch out, Baltimore Ravens fans. High demand for tickets for Sunday’s playoff game against the Indianapolis Colts will likely bring out scammers, the Better Business Bureau of Greater Maryland warned today.

“Fans in a frenzy for last-minute tickets should carefully assess the legitimacy of ticket sales,” said Angie Barnett, president and CEO of the bureau.

Consumers should be careful about buying from anonymous people or agents or entities that can’t be verified, the BBB said.

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Broncos fans warned of possible ticket scams

admin — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 17:29:40 +0000

People hoping to purchase tickets to playoff games involving the Denver Broncos may be the target of ticket scammers, the Denver/Boulder Better Business Bureau warned on Wednesday.

As game tickets sell out, con artists step in and sell fraudulent tickets, the BBB warned.

Most problems occur with private dealers on websites like Craigslist and eBay, as well as with game-day scalpers. Ticket buyers are known to be swindled by wire transfer scams, non-delivery of tickets and have even been turned away from games when their tickets turned out to be counterfeit, said the BBB.

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Ticketmaster warns of fraud

admin — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 15:28:28 +0000

It may be tempting to snap up that bowl game ticket for $10 on a secondary market web site.

But Ticketmaster officials are warning fans who purchase bowl tickets on those sites that there is a danger of buying counterfeit or duplicate tickets, leading to a game-day disaster.

Ticketmaster has a bar-code authentication process before re-selling tickets that other secondary markets don’t have or don’t practice.

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