Why is it so difficult to buy tickets in Australia? It sometimes feels like you’d have a better chance of buying a ticket to Mars than successfully negotiating the purchase of a ticket to an A-League game.
Just over a week ago I tried to buy a couple of tickets to the upcoming Sydney derby in March.
It was a members pre-sale and having had countless issues with Ticketek in the past, I assumed there’d be a problem with this transaction.
Naturally I wasn’t disappointed.
After logging in online with the dedicated members password, I navigated to the ‘Choose Your Tickets’ page easily enough.
Unfortunately I could only select the ‘best available’ tickets and not the actual bay I wanted to sit in, which happened to be halfway around the other side of the ground.
Dreading the call to Ticketek, I knew exactly the conversation which would soon follow.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” said the disinterested voice down the line, before proceeding to suggest I “contact the club” and hanging up on me.
So I did exactly that, and after a few hours back and forth – and a phone call from the club to Ticketek – eventually I managed to ring back several hours later to purchase the specific tickets I wanted.
For that privilege I was charged more than $10 in transaction fees, despite the fact the tickets were emailed to me to print myself (I wasn’t offered an alternative).
My gripe is not that this happened to me – is there anyone in Australia who hasn’t suffered similar problems at the hands of Ticketek – but the fact that it happens at all.
Why do we continually put up with such abysmal service from Ticketek and its partner in the ticketing duopoly, Ticketmaster?
Partly because they’ve cornered market, no doubt, and partly because most Australians tend to be as apathetic about consumer rights as they are about pretty much everything else.
In December 2011, the Federal Court handed down a $2.5 million fine to Ticketek for engaging in anti-competitive practices.
It was small change for a company which rakes in multimillion dollar profits, but nonetheless an acknowledgement that Ticketek uses its dominant market position to try and deter small-time competitors from doing business.
A recent in-depth study by consumer organisation CHOICE found that both Ticketek and Ticketmaster were essentially charging double-dip commissions – taking a payment from promoters to handle ticket sales, then passing on additional fees to consumers for that exact same handling.
Even when the costs aren’t being added so sneakily, the naked profiteering is still the same.
It’s routine for both companies to charge up to four times the standard retail rate to post tickets through the mail.
That’s to say nothing of the service charges added for buying tickets online – a process which should ostensibly be automated and therefore cuts down on salaries.
But even when you manage to speak to an actual human, the chances of them having any idea what you’re talking about appear to be next to nought.
Trying to buy tickets in the first season of the A-League was a nightmare, with some outlets incredulous that the competition even existed.
Many fans got around it by becoming season ticket holders, but what’s the point of being a member when one of the main benefits is supposed to be the ability to buy extra tickets?
Heaven help us when the Asian Cup rolls around, because it’s hard enough to buy the actual ticket you want to a domestic fixture.
I acknowledge that outlets sell tickets to a dizzying array of events, but the sheer ignorance of the products they’re peddling is grating.
Sadly, nothing much will change.
We’ll complain on social media as these companies rip us off blind, and hand over our hard-earned to a couple of ticket agencies who’ve done nothing to deserve it.
anfalicious
Guest
That's the kind of thing that would make me so mad I'd never go again, but I have problems with things like that.
Marchisio
Guest
Hi Mike, It was suggested to me, by wiser than I, using my actual first name, or a variation on my surname was not sensible. Hence I decided on Marchisio. Interestingly your response to criticism continues to be an ad hominem attack "tinfoil hats" really? Do you think this is your best work? Are you truly helping to advance the game here? I see it as a responsibility for a football specific journalist, clearly you do know. I'm also interested to hear you'd suggest one less consumer using the Roar's site.I didn't realise "Your sports opinion" was confined to fawning admiration.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
What I find interesting Damiano, is that every time I respond directly to your comments, you change your nickname and reappear on The Roar with a different pseudonym at a later date. If you have such a problem with my work, then you are free to read your football news and opinion elsewhere.
madmaco
Guest
X 1 Roger. Not happy about having to do this also, especially when these so called big games have not been anywhere near a sell out. PSAlso when have to do this. I would say the next one will be MV v Sydney cannot work out how to choose a seat with ticketek. Just keep getting random bad seats.
RAF
Guest
"For that privilege I was charged more than $10 in transaction fees, despite the fact the tickets were emailed to me to print myself (I wasn’t offered an alternative)." This is what really pisses me off with this mob. Every time I deal with them I feel like I have to cut my balls off because they have me over a barrel and hold all the aces.
Marchisio
Guest
Well, Vinnie, I suppose this proves some people are easily impressed if nothing else. This is half an article at best, phoned in, with little finesse. Apply some standards Vinnie, don't settle for this lowest common denominator. Mike isn't asking the big questions, he's griping. He used to work for the FFA, so one would assume he could have picked up the phone and talked to them about ticketing, you know, like a journalist would. We should expect better from a journalist. Don't settle for this.
Vinnie
Guest
hey Marcus and Marisio i check in to the roar everyday and comment almost daily, al though i dont need to prove anything to you but i am a fan of Mike cos he is not afraid to ask the big questions that everyones afraid to talk about.
Cantab
Guest
I agree with this article, using ticketek means paying high fees for poor service.
Doug
Guest
What a load of BS. It is charging people extra to have a ticket guaranteed, rather than just turning up to the ground and hoping. The online "infrastructure" is cheaper than wages of the people selling tickets and assorted hardware to sell the tickets at the ground and guard the cash takings on the way to the bank. As many people have said it is gouging the customer pure and simple.
Roger
Guest
Yep. Unbelievable. On both accounts.
ciudadmarron
Guest
Let me get this straight You are a member And you have to organise new tickets for yourself for big matches? (and pay 5$ to ticketek for the prvilige?) That's unbelievable. I expect the ticketek thing. But that's getting shafted by your club as well.
Roger
Guest
OMG YES! Thank you Mike. The cost for tickets is a rort. Especially for us GA guys at MV who have to re-purchase our tickets during big games, and are charged $5 per ticket for the sheer pleasure of printing a replacement ticket instead of our SEASON PASS. What a rip off. Duopoly at it's finest.
TK
Guest
Hey Towser - I agree getting membership was unbelievably easy. They even set the seats aside for a couple of days while one of the guys came back from OS and got his details to them. Great service which is what you'd expect as the club has a direct interest in providing it - ticketek don't.
Marchisio
Guest
Maybe if you spent a little more time on researching your articles, and a little less time quipping at your critics you might not have so many critics. I suppose in this article you did actually book a ticket, what you didn't do, which perhaps a journalist may have, is contact the ticketing companies, make some enquiries about their processes, contact the clubs to get their perspective, contact the FFA, you know, an article, rather than just a whinge in public.
Australian Rules
Guest
Off topic - but I believe SBS1 are showing the BR v WSW game.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
Are each of these comments supposed to be directed at me? Hope the tinfoil hats are keeping you boys warm at night.
Tom Jones
Guest
And thank God for Fairfax as the smaller partner in that duopoly. Also special mention to the The Guardian and the ABC.
Marcus
Guest
Second that, totally fake. Probably better to pay someone better next time.
Davo
Guest
I work at a struggling newsagent and we don't charge any fee for using a credit card. Something which genuinely hurts our small bottom line, particularly with lotto. Yet these giant ticket companies who would use their economies of scale to get a ripper of a deal on credit card transactions feel the need to slug their customers. Its absurd and is a clear example of abuse of market power.
stanofheart
Guest
A big thank you Mike.It has been a gripe of mine for years.Not only for football but theatre also.I worked out it was all a big con way back .You would get a mail to say pre public sail if you are registerd,when you log on it is always best available.When you check seating,it is always crap seats that they cant sell to public.Time and time again I tried but always the same.Have given up now,if I really want to go I just rock up to the venue.Stuff them.