Ticketmaster Responds

This is a minor miracle! John's letter to ticketmaster got a response.

Dear John,

Thank you for your e-mail. Ticketmaster is a business that provides a service for a fee. Ticketmaster charges service fees in the same manner that a travel agent might charge for the convenience of using its service.

The Ticketmaster convenience charge pays for ticket distribution, installation and maintenance of computer hardware and software, telephone lines, labor, and all other costs associated with the ticket transaction. Ticketmaster does not benefit financially from the actual face value of the ticket. Our charge provides the convenience of being able to purchase tickets either online, through our Charge-by-phone lines, or in person at a Ticketmaster outlet.

If you wish to purchase tickets without the convenience charge you may purchase tickets in person at the venue box office.

Ticketmaster charges an order processing fee on all orders to cover the cost of materials required to print and distribute tickets. This fee is applied regardless of whether the tickets will be held at the box office Will Call window or shipped to your billing address. These materials include, but are not limited to, such items as ticket stock, ticket printers, ink/toner, and envelopes. If the US Postal Service delivers your tickets, the fee also covers the cost of postage.

If you have any further questions, please reply, and include all previous correspondence.

Sincerely,
Andrea (Customer Support)

He has already replied as follows:

Dear Andrea,

Thank you very much for your scripted reply. You didn't specifically enumerate the delivery charge, but I suspect it would be something like, "Ticketmaster charges a per order delivery fee to cover the cost of ticket delivery. The allocation of these funds depends on the mode of delivery selected; for example..."

There are just two more things I'm not quite clear on:

1. If the order processing fee covers the cost of postage when my tickets are delivered through the US postal service, what does the delivery fee cover in that case? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I do not recall seeing any free delivery options when I placed my order.

2. I appreciate your specification of the costs covered by the per-order processing fee. However, I had my tickets delivered electronically, and will thus be providing the ticket stock and ink myself. By my reckoning, Ticketmaster therefore owes me a $4.05 refund. Payment can be credited to my credit card account, or you can remit a check to my billing address.

Thank you,
John

If he gets the $4.05 he should frame it. I'll keep you posted.