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Buying tickets
Feb. 11th, 2011 03:40 pmWTF are "booking fees" for?
If I want to go to the theatre, I can go to the box office in person, where they have to pay someone to deal with me. But that means that I can ask questions of someone who knows about the theatre and the show, so I get a better service, and walk out with the tickets in my hand. Also, I now know exactly where the theatre is, which helps in London.
If I buy the same tickets on the internet, I have to deal with a ticket agency's web site. They can't have ever done any usability testing. It usually takes ages to find out that I can't get exactly what I want, and the only way to find an alternative is to start all over again. There's no one to answer questions. I get the tickets later by post, assuming that the postman doesn't steal or lose them. This all costs next to nothing. And for this, I pay more!
Compare this with buying most other things: buying on line is cheaper. The ticket agencies are relying on it being too difficult for most people to buy any other way. "Ha! No booking fee, no ticket." It's extortion.
If I want to go to the theatre, I can go to the box office in person, where they have to pay someone to deal with me. But that means that I can ask questions of someone who knows about the theatre and the show, so I get a better service, and walk out with the tickets in my hand. Also, I now know exactly where the theatre is, which helps in London.
If I buy the same tickets on the internet, I have to deal with a ticket agency's web site. They can't have ever done any usability testing. It usually takes ages to find out that I can't get exactly what I want, and the only way to find an alternative is to start all over again. There's no one to answer questions. I get the tickets later by post, assuming that the postman doesn't steal or lose them. This all costs next to nothing. And for this, I pay more!
Compare this with buying most other things: buying on line is cheaper. The ticket agencies are relying on it being too difficult for most people to buy any other way. "Ha! No booking fee, no ticket." It's extortion.
