NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — Some John Fogerty fans who had purchased tickets for an upcoming show at the Hammerstein Ballroom got a nasty shock via when Ticketmaster emailed them to let them know that their tickets were going to cost an additional 122 dollars above the 49.50 (plus $9.30 in fees) they had already shelled out for said tix.
According to Ticketnews.com, the change in price was the result of a "programming error" that affected people who had purchased mezzanine-level tickets. Purchasers were given a chance to pay the new price, switch to general seating amongst the hoi polloi or get a refund.
The price breakdowns for the new tix included a face value of $148.00, Ticketmaster service charges of $16.90, a $4.90 order processing fee and a $2.00 venue fee. One must wonder what the service charge entails if it does not include 'processing the order.'
Below is a copy of the email sent to affected ticketholders by Ticketmaster, obtained by Ticketnews.com.
Hello, this is Ticketmaster Customer Service with important information regarding your order of tickets to see John Fogerty scheduled at the Hammerstein Ballroom on Friday November 2nd, 2007 at 7:30 PM. Due to a programming error, the face value of the ticket was incorrectly quoted to you at the time of your purchase.
We have secured the same tickets quoted to you at the time of sale, but now need authorization from you to charge your credit card the correct price of your order to process your order. The correct fees are as follows:
Face value of tickets, $148.00
Facility fee of $2.00 per ticket
Ticketmaster service charge of $16.90 per ticket
Order processing fee of $4.90 per order
Your grand total is dependant on the number of tickets purchased.
You may also choose to exchange your tickets for tickets located in the General Admission section at no additional cost or you may receive a full refund.
Whichever option you choose please respond to this email by Thursday November 1, 2007 at 4:00 PM Eastern with a phone number and we will contact you and handle the changes to your account.
Although extremely rare, occasional errors such as this can occur. Live Nation and Ticketmaster sincerely regret any inconvenience that this may have caused.
Thank you for using Ticketmaster. We really appreciate your business. – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
