My Mate Is Trying To Book Tickets Online

Booking fees for tickets to an event seem to go largely unchallenged by the public which is why the likes of Ticketmaster still get away with it, no-one complains. You get the mass clamour for tickets to events like Glastonbury and people seem so happy to have got tickets for it that they don't question the extra couple of quid 'booking fee' which can't be avoided - surely this should be part of the ticket price?

Strange that people used to complain when low cost airlines did the same and it wasn't long before they were forced to make it so the price advertised is the price you pay.

 

There is, so the £1.50 you are charged is acceptable. Well, it's pushing things a bit, they are basically charging you to buy something, but we've got used to it so just get on with it. When it becomes unacceptable, when it turns in to a rip off, is when you are charged that fee not per transaction, but per ticket. It costs the company no more to sell you four tickets than it does to sell you one, other than the couple of pence (if that) in printing costs. Being charged a booking fee per ticket is no longer paying for a service, it's blatant profiteering.

I'm not aiming this at Barnsley FC, rather at any ticketing company who uses this policy. I urge BFC to use a company that charge per transaction, there still are some out there. Actually, as we have our own box office, I see no reason why we can't do this in house.

 

You don't understand stand
On here if you give em a chance they will bash the club
It will never change
They need to moan

 

I've never seen it as an issue.

Living in donny and working in leeds, (and working permanent afters i can't do night games so it's pointless me still buying season tickets) I buy tickets for the Saturday home games online. Generally have them posted, often though I order on a Friday night after insisting for a fortnight (!) I wouldn't be coming - and so picking them up from box office.

It'd cost me a load more in diesel to come in to the box office - unless I got tickets for future games whilst I was at a match. And even if I did, unless I took cash in, which I'm unlikely to do, I'd be charged about the same to pay by debit card in person anyway. Same as over the phone.

I guess if you bought two or ten tickets in person you'd only be charged once for card payment - online I'm not sure but maybe it is £1.50 each. There is a cost in having the service, and to be honest I like being able to see exactly where seats are available and exactly where I'm going to sit, and the ability to look at the options. If you pissed about like that in the box office when there's a queue halfway down the car park at half two on a satdy I reckon you'd be lynched!

 

Not club bashing but it's a cheek as all these things are. As for passing the cost on. Surely there is a cost to the club in employing staff in the ticket office and they don't bung a couple of quid on there to cover wages do they. Imagine every time you bought summat off Amazon got to the checkout and they said well we told you it would cost this much but now we are going to add a couple of quid on.

 

Of course it is. On line sales and are far more efficient and less labour intensive. No cash handling and less pressure on the box office. People should be encourage to buy their tickets this way rather than penalised.
It's the same rip of mentality that means you have to pay a premium to ring the box office and over-pay for poor quality refreshments. If it moves they want to make off it. Value for money doesn't enter in to it. As a supporter of professional football you'll get ripped off all the time on this because they thnk they know most people will pay. But in the long run it I think it erodes the supporter base.
I watch Barnsley a lot less than I used toI and see a lot more non league football instead because of this kind of thing

 

A golden rule of business is "Never make it difficult for your customers to give you money".

The fact that there is a discussion on here about this shows that, whatever your opinions, some people are put off and annoyed by it. That might result in them not buying a ticket, costing the club money. It's got to be cheaper to sell tickets online rather than in person at the box office, so if anything the "admin charge" should be the other way round.

And I know it's a third party company making the charge. That means nowt to me, as it's still money to be paid by the fans. The club could set up their own online system and avoid the charge.

 

Prat!! I frequently buy stuff from Amazon FREE! yes FREE! delivery. I take it they post these tickets to you after you have gone online and paid? No?? Then Conan is right - what are we paying for? BFC should not need to outsource this after all a customer base of a few thousand most of which pay at the box office turnstiles or are ST holders. Besides people pay far too much for football tickets anyway. Ticketmaster are a serious rip-off company and really should be investigated by the OFT for excessive profit taking. It is not as if people have much choice when booking concert tickest etc in many cases as TM have a monopoly. Rant over!

 

Does that include cup tickets Gally?

 

Does that discount apply to FA Cup matches?

 

It doesn't when I try.

 

Doesn`t any concession which brings the ticket price below the minimum for the game have to be put in the pot for the share up between both clubs and FA.

 

But the point is that people here (me included) are saying that the addition cost is unreasonable. No one thinks that computer systems are free(I don't think so anyway) but these systems are now a fixed cost of running a modern business. The marginal costs of operation are surely minimal and make the whole thing a worth while investment, and that, along with customer convenience are why these systems are installed.I think the argument is that the club should absorb the 'fee' since they are benefiting from significant cost savings by selling on line and that the club should be encouraging the practice. Charging a fee discourages . We may as well charge women for using the new west stand toilets on this line of argument. All very Ryanair in my book.
Btw I did also note this summer that Warwickshire were charging a 'fee' (lovely little word) for printing off test tickets at home...

 

When you live 150 miles away from Oakwell, going to the ticket office is not a realistic option. For the Derby game I had to set off at 8.30 am to get to Oakwell before ticket sales ceased at 12 noon, and with 2 young boys had to kill nearly 4 hours before the game!

I agree, Jay.

It only costs roughly 50p per transaction for a debit card payment.

Gally, I see what you are saying, but if BFC want to sell tickets via Ticketmaster, they should take the hit themselves and receive £1.50 less per ticket. I do most of my shopping online, especially groceries, and only pay extra for delivery. That is, NO SURCHARGES.


PS Is this surcharge payable on telephone bookings????