TicketBastard Springsteen Scalping Scam Busted!
[Editor’s note: this is too funny not to reprint. As you’ve probably heard, diehard Springsteen fans are irate because in the rush for tickets for the upcoming tour, TicketBastard engineered their system to create a bait-and-switch scheme, directing customers interested in buying tickets online to their currently legal subsidiary, Tickets Now rather than accepting their orders directly through TicketBastard. Just like a scalper, Tickets Now takes blocks of seats from TicketBastard and sells them for as much as a 500% markup. According to the Newark Star Ledger, New Jersey Representative Bill Pascarelli has asked the Department of Justice to investigate. In the meantime, here’s a mincing, weasely attempt at damage control from corporate music diva Irving Azoff:]
An Open Letter of Apology to Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau and the entire Springsteen Tour Team:
While we were genuinely trying to do the right thing for fans in providing more choices when the tickets they requested from the primary on-sale were not available, we clearly missed the mark. Fans are confused and angry, which is the opposite of what we hoped to accomplish. We sincerely apologize to Bruce, his organization and, above all, his fans.
We recognize that we need to change our course. We have committed to Bruce and state publicly here that we have taken down all links for Bruce’s shows directing fans from Ticketmaster to TicketsNow. This redirection only occurred as a choice when we could not satisfy fans’ specific search request for primary ticket inventory, but to make sure there is no misunderstanding in the future, we also publicly state that we will never again link to TicketsNow in a manner that can possibly create any confusion during a high-demand on-sale. Specifically, we will not present an option to go to TicketsNow from Ticketmaster without the consent of the artist and the venue, both of whom work together to bring the joy of live entertainment to millions of fans.
If any fans inadvertently purchased tickets in the resale marketplace believing in error they were purchasing from the initial on-sale, we will refund the difference between the actual purchase price and the face price of the ticket. (Please don’t abuse this good faith gesture – we did not give brokers any preferential access to tickets.)
We are committed to helping deliver the most transparent and best live entertainment experience to fans. We will do better going forward.
Sincerely,
Irving Azoff, CEO, Ticketmaster Entertainment
Lucid Culture 
If any fans inadvertently purchased tickets in the resale marketplace believing in error they were purchasing from the initial on-sale, we will refund the difference between the actual purchase price and the face price of the ticket.
Ok, so how does one go about getting the money back. I was a victim of this scam and would like my money back. How is this going to happen??
The NJ Division of Consumer Affairs – http://www.njConsumerAffairs.gov – has placed an icon labeled “Bruce Springsteen/Ticketmaster Complaints” on its main web page for consumers to link to an online complaint form. You can also email Albert.Lopez@ticketmaster.com or if you’re out of state check your state’s dept. of consumer affairs, fraud division. The more customers persist, the better the likelihood that this totally illegal bait-and-switch scam gets shut down.
I am handicapped and live in Colorado. We tried on 2 computers to request without and with handicap, thinking handicap might be more difficult because of less seating. We got the same notices for resellers. The folks for tickets in NJ might have a chance because the law is coming down on Ticketmasters, but this is a federal offense as far as the rest of us are concerned.
I have not been to a concert in over 25 years, mostly due to Ticketbastard. I absolutely loathe the way they do business. Their fees are outrageous, crap like “phone convenience” “printing charges” etc. As a teen, before the dawn of the internet age of the 1980’s, people would have to camp out, and wait in long lines for hours to see who they want, or try to deal with a swamped phone line. Ridiculous.
Now Ticketbastard is selling off their tickets to another Ticket Seller to charge even higher rates. I am sure, must be, that the second company is charging the customer a convenience fee from transferring of the tickets from Ticketbastard. Again, ridiculous.
Here is a simple plan. Have the owner of the venue pay the fee for the band to play in their stadium, then sell the tickets themselves, if it is a top act, only two tickets can be sold to one person, and have enough ticket places so accomodate everyone without a riot.
It figures Irving would be running this racket. Irving is up in New York trying to conjure up more fees and surcharges like ‘toilet usage’, ‘floor usage’, ‘air usage’ etc.