Yahoo Finance Ticketek customer furious over ‘rip-off’ $8 fee: ‘Imagine Woolies charging you to print a receipt’
But the company has explained the reason why the charge was included in the final payment
A Ticketek customer forced to pay nearly $10 to receive his own ticket has called for a “criminal” surcharge to be scrapped. The cost-of-living crisis has left many Aussies counting every dollar they spend, and concert seats certainly aren’t cheap these days.
Geoff told Yahoo Finance he recently paid $100 for a music event in Perth and couldn’t believe his eyes when he went through the payment process. Ticketek gave him the option to get his ticket via SMS or emailed as a PDF, but both options meant he was going to be slapped with an $8 charge.
He said the fee was an “absolute rort” and believes this “should be criminal”.
“$8 to get a ticket - that I paid for - should, in my opinion, be stopped,” he told Yahoo Finance. “It is a blatant rip-off by a company that holds all the power. I have worked in tech and there is 0 per cent chance it costs $8 to process or handle or text a ticket. It should be the law to get what you pay for at no extra cost.
“Imagine Woolies charging $8 for a receipt that you must print? It’s a joke.”
Have you been slugged with a fee or surcharge that you think was too much? Email us at yahoo.finance.au@yahooinc.com
Ticketek’s website states there is no fee attached for SMS or email delivery for some events. However, there is information contained in the fine print about a ‘one-off service fee’ of $7.95.
A Ticketek spokesperson told Yahoo Finance the fee covered costs associated with “end-to-end service delivery” for the venue and partners, which includes the system the ticket is bought through, as well as customer service and staffing at the event.
“The fees are clearly outlined throughout the transaction purchase path and take account of the costs associated with providing the services to customers, as well as for each venue and event, which may vary depending on the requirements of each venue or event,” they said.
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“For example, the Ticketek Service and Handling Fee varies from event to event, and typically comes to an estimate of 2-3 per cent of the transaction price.”
But Geoff doesn’t believe the fee is warranted and wants the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) to investigate.
A spokesperson for the ACCC told Yahoo Finance there were rules in place to ensure businesses didn’t “mislead consumers about their products or services”.
“This includes the nature or price of their products and services, and any terms and conditions applying to the sale of their products or services,” they said. “Businesses must clearly tell consumers up front how much a product or service will cost in total.”
*Name has been changed at source’s request
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