How do you pay for concert tickets?

[P. G. Tipps]

I do agree that 'booking fees' are wholly unwarranted. All costs in any properly-run company will be included in the price of the goods to the customer including staff/administrative costs. It somewhat irks me that I am charged a fee to book a concert online at a leading London venue unless I arrange to pay for a year's membership. I live almost 200 miles from London so that is not really a sensible/worthwhile option in my case.

This extra fee is a 'con', pure and simple. However, despite being well aware of this, I have to pay if I want to go to the concert.

Unfair!

[P. G. Tipps]

And doesn't anyone have any views about not being allowed to pay cash?

Businesses can decide themselves what sort of payment is acceptable to them. If one doesn't have a cash-register in the first place it is then difficult for them to accept cash?

Plus all the extra security issues involved as already listed previously.

Still, it is ironic that it is cash that now tends to be refused rather than cards, but that's 'progress' for you!

[pastoralguy]

When the Edinburgh Festival booking opens in May, Mrs. PG and I often book for the concerts we suspect will sell out quickly. From then until the Festival starts, we buy a couple of tickets for less popular events until we have amassed a fair collection. However, with the introduction of the booking fee we now have to pay it at least 4 times.

I suspect that, yes, we will simply pop into the booking office and pay cash from now on.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Businesses can decide themselves what sort of payment is acceptable to them. If one doesn't have a cash-register in the first place it is then difficult for them to accept cash?

Indeed - but I suspect that a Business that has no facility whatsoever for accepting cash payments at the door isn't going to stay in business for very long.

[pastoralguy]

Indeed - but I suspect that a Business that has no facility whatsoever for accepting cash payments at the door isn't going to stay in business for very long.

Slightly off topic, but I do spend a lot of money in charity shops where I'll often spend a couple of pounds, or indeed only 50p. Some Charity shops won't accept cards for less than a fiver so cash is de rigeur!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

he'd turned up and wanted to pay cash, and they had no facilities for cope with this, though they could have managed a card. They did say they'd make a special exception for him, but he went home in protest.

I'm not sure I understand this - does this mean that it wasn't the case that the chap couldn't/"wasn't allowed" to pay by card, but that he chose not to accept their offer "in protest"? ("In protest" at what? Being made an "exception"? )

I suspect that anyone waving cash at the people behind the ticket table would also have found themselves "special exceptions". What I'm more perturbed about is the possibility of having to register online for the free lunchtime concerts at Liverpool might reach the other end of the canal - the dozens of patrons who'll turn up not having done so would lynch anyone who tried to turn them away!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Slightly off topic, but I do spend a lot of money in charity shops where I'll often spend a couple of pounds, or indeed only 50p. Some Charity shops won't accept cards for less than a fiver so cash is de rigeur!

Me, too. And think of the money lost from all those 1p change from sales that get popped into the collection box next to the till.

[jean]

I'm not sure I understand this - does this mean that it wasn't the case that the chap couldn't/"wasn't allowed" to pay by card,

No - he wanted to pay cash, but they only wanted to take a card.

...but that he chose not to accept their offer "in protest"? ("In protest" at what? Being made an "exception"? )

He chose not to accept their offer on principle, for the reasons I've quoted in #13.

I am really interested to know how many people would feel so strongly about it.

What I'm more perturbed about is the possibility of having to register online for the free lunchtime concerts at Liverpool might reach the other end of the canal - the dozens of patrons who'll turn up not having done so would lynch anyone who tried to turn them away!

I'm not really sure what would happen were such an influx to come about! The first time I realised you had to register, and hadn't, the concert was 'sold out' and they wouldn't let me in, but I sneaked in as a 'guest' of someone.

[Cockney Sparrow]

I came across a situation on a university campus where they had a parcel collection service (that was open to the public) at their "services hub" but could not take cash - they didn't want to handle it and I suppose their main clientele are the cashless/contactless/card generation on the whole. The civil service satellite office I worked in before retirement eliminated all forms of cash because the agency would be charged - oh, say £50k fees per year to audit the cash handling process and banking, for a very small part of the funds the agency handled.

However, I am astounded that a music group would choose to run the risk of cutting out a percentage of their audience by not taking cash, nor organising change beforehand? I'm intrigued by an organisation so flush with funds they can afford to exclude a sector of their clientele. Speaking for myself - before I go to a concert I ensure I have enough coins and low value notes to pay the exact amount for tickets, and also for a programme. If I had been met with this, I would have been tempted to put the money down, and walk in and take a seat.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

No - he wanted to pay cash, but they only wanted to take a card.

Ah - I was misled by the idea that this was an "exception" (was no one else allowed to pay by card??)

He chose not to accept their offer on principle, for the reasons I've quoted in #13.

I am really interested to know how many people would feel so strongly about it.

Apologies - I missed #13 for some reason (not superstition); he has explained his reasons very well, I think. I wouldn't feel so strongly - though it could be annoying if I didn't know in advance their payment preferences. It might be "fun" to be in the queue when the technology crashes on the night of a concert, but that isn't a matter of principle. It does seem to show a distinct lack of awareness of the more likely clientele for concerts such as these to reject cash payments on the part of the concert organisers.

I'm not really sure what would happen. The first time I realised you had to register, and hadn't, the concert was 'sold out' and they wouldn't let me in, but I sneaked in as a 'guest' of someone.

I doubt very much - certainly at any of the Leeds venues - that anyone would ever be turned away from events; even "full houses" always manage to sneak in anybody who turns up in time for the concert when all seats are "taken".

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Reading Cockney Sparrow's post (which echoes how I attend/prepare for concerts) made me wonder - how does the audience pay for coffee, ice cream etc in the interval at these events?

[jean]

...I suppose their main clientele are the cashless/contactless/card generation on the whole...

Certainly the Collective themselves all seem to be very young!

They don't have a paper programme either. At the risk of shocking everyone here, I post the email they sent me shortly before the concert:

Hi All - we're looking forward to seeing you tonight at THE HUNT.

Just a quick note: as always, we have produced a concert guide that we encourage you to read on your phones during the gig - you can find it at manchestercollective.co.uk/guide. It's a pretty good one, if we say so ourselves!

See you soon,

MC

[jean]

Reading Cockney Sparrow's post (which echoes how I attend/prepare for concerts) made me wonder - how does the audience pay for coffee, ice cream etc in the interval at these events?

The venue is a smallish room with a bar. No ice creams.

[oddoneout]

I'm not sure I understand this - does this mean that it wasn't the case that the chap couldn't/"wasn't allowed" to pay by card, but that he chose not to accept their offer "in protest"? ("In protest" at what? Being made an "exception"? )

I suspect that anyone waving cash at the people behind the ticket table would also have found themselves "special exceptions". What I'm more perturbed about is the possibility of having to register online for the free lunchtime concerts at Liverpool might reach the other end of the canal - the dozens of patrons who'll turn up not having done so would lynch anyone who tried to turn them away!

I read it that he wanted to pay in cash but they could not handle a cash transaction, but if he had a card they would have been able to accept that. For whatever reason that was not an acceptable alternative for the person in question, hence his departure.
Cash handling does bring its difficulties, especially in terms of what to do with it after the event;someone has to take responsibility for it until it can be banked. They are not insurmountable problems but certainly more so than putting bits of paper(with no monetary value) in a bag for the finance bods to deal with.
The use of Eventbrite and similar for booking free events makes financial sense to the organisations involved as it frees up admin staff. Where I work it is used as it does not cost us but cuts out time spent dealing with phone and email bookings. For a local council struggling to fund cultural activities this is a consideration. What we don't know is to what extent bookings are lost because people can't or won't book online.
The 'no-one uses cash' argument is one of those somewhat contrived ones, a bit like the current low footfall one for closing bank branches or, going way back the Grotneys Keg one. If the choice isn't there then it can't be used - but that doesn't mean no demand.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

The venue is a smallish room with a bar. No ice creams.

Now this is where I'd walk out in protest! Not even one of those little freezers where you take your tub to the bar to pay? What kind of Third World place are you living in?!