Telecharge.com vs. TicketMaster.com

[Tiny-Toon]

Telecharge.com vs. TicketMaster.com#0

Posted: 11/21/04 at 11:33am

Where do you like to buy your seats?

- 1 vote for TicketMaster.com!

http://www.BrooklynTheMusical.info

[Lorelai]

re: Telecharge.com vs. TicketMaster.com#1

Posted: 11/21/04 at 2:00pm

No way....Telecharge. I HATE Ticketmaster, you have to pretty much search date by date for tickets where, on Telecharge, you can look up first available.

(formerly bronte604) "You really just love money and power and capitalism? You know they're never going to love you back." "Things happen for the best...I don't even believe that myself."

[chinkie azn jai]

re: Telecharge.com vs. TicketMaster.com#2

Posted: 11/21/04 at 2:14pm

I've had problems with both ticket outlets.

"Chicago is it's own incredible theater town right there smack down in the middle of the heartland. What a great city! I can see why Oprah likes to live there!" - Dee Hoty :-D

[bythesword84]

re: Telecharge.com vs. TicketMaster.com#3

Posted: 11/21/04 at 2:16pm

I LOVE Telecharge and despise Ticketmaster

And hang on, when did you win the discus?

[Yankeefan007]

re: Telecharge.com vs. TicketMaster.com#4

Posted: 11/21/04 at 2:17pm

they both suck

[MargoChanning]

re: Telecharge.com vs. TicketMaster.com#5

Posted: 11/21/04 at 2:47pm

I also hate ticketmaster -- if you don't like the tix they offer you, they don't allow you to search for alternate seats for the same performance. Just an AWFUL search engine. Telecharge is great and very easy to use.

"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie [http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/] "The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney

[xluckystar2107x]

re: Telecharge.com vs. TicketMaster.com#6

Posted: 11/21/04 at 3:19pm

telecharge.....ticketmaster is absolutly terrible. ive had numerous problems with ticketmaster

[munkustrap178]

re: Telecharge.com vs. TicketMaster.com#7

Posted: 11/21/04 at 5:52pm

I hate ticketmaster.

"If you are going to do something, do it well. And leave something witchy." -Charlie Manson

[QueenMuppet]

re: Telecharge.com vs. TicketMaster.com#8

Posted: 11/21/04 at 6:58pm

Telecharge all the way. Ticketmaster drives me mad... I think Margo mentioned it already about not being able to select alternate seats. Also, having to go into every single date to check which next date is available, it's just a pain.

QM

'He really wasn't good as Fieyro. Is it just me or does he sort of come across as a pimp? Just...the hand motions I've seen him do and the attitude..not that Taye is a pimp.' - SallyBrown on Taye Diggs as Fiyero

[beachie]

re: Telecharge.com vs. TicketMaster.com#9

Posted: 11/21/04 at 8:51pm

I like the way you can pick your seats at Telecharge because what they consider 'best available' doesn't agree with mine: I much prefer center front mezzanine to side orchestra even though the latter are usually considered 'better'. Plus you get the 2 minute time period to mull the tickets over.

My question is: Telecharge vs box office? The reason I ask is that when I went to order tickets online for Chicago, the best was the last row left orchestra ( I believe that row O). Since I was going into town anyway, I stopped by the box office and for the same date got row K. Now why is that? Are returned or cancelled tickets not sent back into the Telecharge system?

[CattleCall]

re: Telecharge.com vs. TicketMaster.com#10

Posted: 11/21/04 at 9:56pm

I HATE ticketmaster more than anything on this earth -- horrible search engine, no opportunity to see alternate seating -- just a complete and awful mess. Telecharge, on the other hand, has never given me a problem.
Tiny-toon, just out of curiosity why do you think ticketmaster is better?

"I can't pay the bills yet, 'cause I have no skills yet. The world is a big scary place." - Avenue Q

[pab]

re: Telecharge.com vs. TicketMaster.com#11

Posted: 11/21/04 at 9:59pm

Telecharge. No question about it.

"Smart! And into all those exotic mystiques -- The Kama Sutra and Chinese techniques. I hear she knows more than seventy-five. Call me tomorrow if you're still alive!"

[MargoChanning]

re: Telecharge.com vs. TicketMaster.com#12

Posted: 11/21/04 at 10:01pm

Well, box office is always ideal if you can do that (I work less than a 5 minute walk from most Broadway theatres so it's no problem for me). Most shows only put a certain percentage of the their available seats into the telecharge (or ticketmaster system) and rarely make their center orchestra seats available anywhere but the box office.

Case in point, I checked for Night Mother seats last week online and the best they had was Row K right ochestra. I decided to go by the box office to buy my seats instead (I had a discount flyer and didn't want to pay telecharge fees) and ended up with a great pair, fourth row center. I've been told by a couple of box office people when I've mentioned the disparity in the selection online versus what was actually available at the box office that its their policy to never put center orchestra on telecharge (or ticketmaster) except for maybe front row, if the show is selling well.

"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie [http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/] "The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney

[Tiny-Toon]

re: Telecharge.com vs. TicketMaster.com#13

Posted: 11/21/04 at 10:05pm

Well.. i use TicketMaster more then i use TeleCharge.. and i never had a problem with TicketMaster, i always got the seats i wanted...

http://www.BrooklynTheMusical.info

[John4763]

re: Telecharge.com vs. TicketMaster.com#14

Posted: 11/21/04 at 10:09pm

When you buy a ticket from the box office, does telecharge (or ticketmaster) get a cut?

I would have thought that the ticketseller would insist on having the same inventory as the box office. If customers knew that the online ticketseller only had the bad seats, then why wouldn't everyone just use mail order?

[ChrisLovesShows]

re: Telecharge.com vs. TicketMaster.com#15

Posted: 11/21/04 at 10:17pm

I must agree with all who prefer telecharge. Ticketmaster is just a nightmare to search through from beginning to end.

"Do you know ChrisLovesShows?" "Yes. Why, yes he does!"

[MargoChanning]

re: Telecharge.com vs. TicketMaster.com#16

Posted: 11/21/04 at 10:22pm

There's no cut and no fees at the box office for telecharge or ticketmaster (so if the ticket costs $101, that's exactly what you pay, not $112.50 or whatever). When you use one of them, you're paying for the convenience of not having to schlepp to the box office (for some of us, it's not much of a schlepp) to the tune of $6 a ticket, plus $3 an order, plus fees.....

The services have the inventory the show's box ofice provides to them -- the show always holds some inventory back (house seats, seats for VIPs etc). For example, no matter how sold out a show is, unused house seats are released daily at around 6pm and are avilable at ful price at the box office -- if you want to see Wicked or whatever sold out hit, go to the box office at that time and you should be able to buy an excellent center orchestra seat for $101.

"If customers knew that the online ticketseller only had the bad seats, then why wouldn't everyone just use mail order?"

Well, that's the point. 99% of customers assume that telecharge and ticketmaster have all of the available inventory -- they don't, never have and never will. And there's no such thing as a sold out show.

"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie [http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/] "The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney

[pab]

re: Telecharge.com vs. TicketMaster.com#17

Posted: 11/21/04 at 10:27pm

There is one thing that I like about Ticketmaster. They will email me a .pdf of my ticket(s) which saves me having to go to the Box Office to collect the ticket. Other than that, I prefer being able to keep trying with Telecharge until I can choose the seats that I want and not be limited to one choice.

"Smart! And into all those exotic mystiques -- The Kama Sutra and Chinese techniques. I hear she knows more than seventy-five. Call me tomorrow if you're still alive!"

[Tiny-Toon]

re: Telecharge.com vs. TicketMaster.com#18

Posted: 11/21/04 at 10:39pm

yes.. i used that option with my WICKED tickets.. very cool

http://www.BrooklynTheMusical.info

[John4763]

re: Telecharge.com vs. TicketMaster.com#19

Posted: 11/21/04 at 11:04pm

Margo,

So are you saying that telecharge/ticketmaster exist simply as vehicles for theatres to unload bad seats on an unsuspecting consumer?

And that the theatres hold back the good seats to sell on their own? I'm surprised that tele/ticket would allow that. If I sign a contract as your exclusive broker I wouldn't want to hear that you're selling the same merchandise at a better price and better quality on your own.

[MargoChanning]

re: Telecharge.com vs. TicketMaster.com#20

Posted: 11/21/04 at 11:37pm

The services get blocks of seats, good and bad, located throughout the theatre to sell -- orchestra, mezz, balcony. The theatres and producers, though, hold back a certain number prime seats to sell on site.

There's also the situation of house seats -- every show's stars, creative team and many producers contractually are allotted a certain number of prime seats for every performance of the run of the show which they can disperse as they choose -- to friends, family, business associates etc... In most cases, after, say, the first month or two of the run, those with contractual house seats usually run out of people to give them to (for instance, one doubts that Andrew Lloyd Webber still has any family members left who want/need free seats to see Phantom at this point) so they designate for their house seats to be sold to the general public at the box office. For some shows (that are still selling out or close to it), those unused house seats become "premium" seats to be sold for $200 - 350. House seats are also held back for the show's press agents (to be used, for example, if Tom Cruise or George Bush or somebody famous shows up, so they can have a prime seat to see the show and the fact of "celebrity X" seeing the show can be leaked to the proper news sources).

House seats (and there are dozens of them) have been tradtionally "released" at 6pm the day of the show, giving the contractual holder of them plenty of time to designate someone to have them, but otherwise they get sold one way or another to the general public, or given out to a VIP or member of the press.

"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie [http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/] "The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney

Updated On: 11/21/04 at 11:37 PM

[meagan9848]

re: Telecharge.com vs. TicketMaster.com#21

Posted: 11/22/04 at 12:02am

the only reason I hesitate to say telecharge is that you can't use a discount code online. That sort of bothers me.

Idina: Somehow I got myself to the stage, came out at the end of the show, and I had some kind of closure.
Some guy: You looked great!
Idina: Thanks...I WAS SO HIGH! 8/21/05

[MargoChanning]

re: Telecharge.com vs. TicketMaster.com#22

Posted: 11/22/04 at 12:08am

Sure you can -- go to broadwayoffers.com to use discount codes for telecharge shows.

"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie [http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/] "The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney

[millie_dillmount]

re: Telecharge.com vs. TicketMaster.com#23

Posted: 11/22/04 at 12:12am

Well, Ticketmaster isn't so bad when they give me good seats!

"We like to snark around here. Sometimes we actually talk about theater...but we try not to let that get in our way." - dramamama611

[meagan9848]

re: Telecharge.com vs. TicketMaster.com#24

Posted: 11/22/04 at 12:21am

oye! Thanks Margo

Idina: Somehow I got myself to the stage, came out at the end of the show, and I had some kind of closure.
Some guy: You looked great!
Idina: Thanks...I WAS SO HIGH! 8/21/05