Convenience Fees – convenient for whom and for what?
8 February, 2011 at 1:12 pm Tim Roberts ARTS Australia 2 comments
I am mystified by Cirque du Soleil charging fees on top of ticket prices.
On the website it states “Convenience fees and Delivery fees apply“. One does have to 
ask why?!
Cirque du Soleil own the show, they own the venue (the tent) and they have their own ticketing system. So why are the prices not all in?
Is it that it purely convention (courtesy of Fred Rosen and Ticketmaster in the 70′s & 80′s) to fleece the consumer with added outside charges?
I would have thought a company reknowned for innovation like Cirque du Soleil (even OutBox is described as a “ground-breaking platform“) would have taken the opportunity to innovate in pricing, let alone break some new ground with customer service.
As mentioned previously in A not so well kept secret has been let ‘out the box’, Fred Rosen the CEO of Outbox used to be CEO of Ticketmaster.
Fred Rosen has stated “Simply put, there is no longer a need for a middle man in this business“, but why is there still a ‘need’ for archaic opportunistic price gouging with additional fees that are of “convenience” to the middle man the ticket seller?
By way of example, looking at the Cirque du Soleil show OVO in Frisco (Dallas Area), TX
If you buy 2 seats near the front that is US$125.00 each. That totals, US$250.00 BUT on top of that is $32 fees!
This comprises 2 x “Convenience Fees” @ US$13.50 = US$27.00
Then “Delivery Fees” on top of that e-Ticket add US$5.00 and for Will Call add US$7.00
That is 12.8% added on top.
You will be pleased to know that taxes are included!
Read more about Cirque du Soleil, AEG and Outbox – AEG, Cirque du Soleil and Jean-Francoys Brousseau-owned Outbox Technology and Fredric D. Rosen to Form Joint Venture to Provide Electronic Ticketing Solutions
Entry filed under: box office, CRM, Customer Service, Online, Paperless, Price. Tags: audience development, Booking Fees, CRM, Customer Service, Online, price, ticketmaster azoff.
1.
Michelle Paul | 10 February, 2011 at 1:28 am
Charging a $5 “Delivery Fee” on an E-TICKET is what really pushes this over the edge of absurdity.
2.
Mike Holden | 13 August, 2011 at 12:21 am
I was just charged $40 convenience fee on three Cirque tickets in Toronto. I feel totally duped! I notice when I walk I have limp and seem to be moving alot slower…
I emailed Cirque and essentially told them they are rip off artists as well as gymnastic artists. The box office explained that the $40 is to cover the staffing, software and expenses. They say they are being “transparent” by charing the fee apart from the ticket prices.
All they are really doing is falsely deflating the ticket prices. .