Lethbridge Real Estate and Mortgage Info

Recently this week, there was more news regarding investigation into the practices of Ticketmaster.  A company with a near monopoly on the sale of event tickets here in Canada.  Ticketmaster is currently in merger talks with LiveNation, which would effectively eliminate all competition from the event ticket market.

(try googling 'ticketmaster sucks' for some great customer feedback)

I hate ticketmaster.  Let me get that out of the way first.  Ticketmaster are, in my opinion, a bunch of crooks, the overcharge, up-charge, and take advantage of consumers in any way possible.  I have been screwed by them on at least a dozen occasions.  For example, I bought Pavarotti tickets for about $1000 a few years ago, paid for the tickets and all sorts of miscellaneous fees.  The concert was canceled, and my ticket price was refunded, but not the fees that were added on.  I lost nearly $100 on fees which I did not get back for a concert that never happened.  This has happened to me 3 times so far, and all 3 times I lost money on tickets I never received.

On another occasion, I purchased tickets to a small unknown band (shiny toy guns) that was playing at a hole in the wall place that were priced at $13 a ticket.  Great deal right?  Except that with the fees and charges that ticketscammer, err ticketmaster added on the tickets ended up costing $24 each.  Nearly double the price because of the fees.  It was a great show, but horrible that ticketmaster makes more revenue on the charges than the artist makes on the show.

Today I purchased tickets for Gavin Rossdale. (former singer of Bush/Bush-x).   Here is the summary of the ticket price.  The total for two $32.50 tickets, instead of being $65, is $94.35?!?!?   Yup, they charge nearly $10 per ticket for a 'convenience charge', how convenient is that?  The even better part, take a look where they charge $6.85 for ticketfast, that is so I can print the ticket out myself at home.  They charge me $7 and I have to print my own damn ticket!!!!   You would think that it saves them time and money, but they still charge the customer for it!!!

I am shocked that they haven't thought of some way of adding a 'green tax' on the ticket and maybe a 'recycling fee'.

In many jurisdictions it is illegal to sell a ticket to an event for more than the face value of the ticket, yet ticketmaster sells every ticket for more than the face value of the ticket, sometimes nearly 100% more.  They are worse than the scalpers, because they are making money from the artist and from the consumer.  They are licensed scalpers.

I encourage everyone to support your local arts community, support community and arts events, support all media and recording artists, and to support ANY ticket agency other than Ticketmaster.

Here are a few of my favorite past articles from my Lethbridge real estate and mortgage blog you might have missed or wish to recommend them to a friend.

Common Financial Problems - Avoid these financial mistakes
Get Your Credit Score UP - Invaluable insight into your credit score
8 dollar a week raise? - Taxes are an obstacle to success
Mortgage Guidelines Get Tighter - Harder and harder to borrow money
Is Your Mortgage Company Out of Business in 2009? - What to do when your bank goes broke
What is wrong with MLS - Is your info being abused?
Survivor - Real Estate Edition - Let's vote a few more off the island

Robert May is a Realtor, as well as the broker and owner of Rainbow Realty of Lethbridge Alberta. He is also a licensed mortgage associate and financing expert with Canada First Mortgage of Calgary Alberta. He has been in the real estate industry since 1993 and offers full MLS real estate services to Lethbridge and surrounding area, as well as mortgage financing, refinancing/renewals, preapprovals, and home equity financing to Lethbridge and Southern Alberta. He can be found online at www.LethbridgeLoans.com

Let me share my 15 years experience in the local Lethbridge real estate and financing market with you! It is the first step towards making a profitable real estate decision.

Enjoyed this article? Please leave a comment, subscribe, add me, OR click the little red flag and feature it!


Lethbridge mortgage Lethbridge Blogger twitter AR Blog Outside Blog Lethbridge Squidoo financing real estate financing alberta mortgages blog