Noted within the Testset (https://testset.io/) article:
Live Nation Canceled Bonnaroo 2020 Today, ACL is Next?
by testset June 25, 2020
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Now to the gangster shit: Ticket fees.
Ticketmaster, a wholly owned subsidiary of Live Nation, argues that when they sell you a ticket, they are rendering a service. Hence, all of the fees they add to tickets are non-refundable. This includes service fees, facility fees, taxes, etc. Then, when you go to buy a ticket to the refunded, postponed and now rescheduled event, you pay those fees all over again. This is a comical dance and it’s absurdity is not lost on other commentators. Tim Chambers (https://www.theticketingbusiness.com/2020/05/07/debate-booking-fees-refunded/) an expert on the concert industry and ticketing, does a great job of articulating this problem:
“From the perspective of the disappointed fan, patron or supporter, the response is immediate and clear, if an event is cancelled, they would expect a refund in full i.e. the price they paid. Assuming they bought via a primary source (how would the consumer know any differently?) and after excitedly waiting several months since the OnSale, during which they confirm their identity, contact details, payment and agreement to receiving follow-up marketing messages from the artist / promoter / venue / sponsor / ticket retailer, it’s disappointment enough that the event is not happening. But to add insult to injury ticket retailers then routinely expect that consumers will accept that a partial service has been provided, and therefore only part-refund will take place ‘*as specified in the original (small-print) 30-point Terms & Conditions’. The argument being that as the now invalid tickets (whether physical or digital) have been delivered in advance, and that a part-service has been provided, this must therefore be paid for, by the disappointed ticket-buyer.”
The retailer then typically informs the consumer that refunds for the original ticket face-value may be further delayed whilst they retrieve revenues advanced to the event organiser (as per their internal supply-side agreement) and that it may take up to 30 days to process their refund request – comparing somewhat less favourably from the micro-seconds it took to take payment all those months ago.”
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For further details: https://testset.io/2020/06/25/live-nation-canceled-bonnaroo-2020-today-acl-is-next/
And thanks to Testset.
tjchambers.com 