Ticket costs 'need transparency'

Paying to see REM could cost an extra �19 for two �45 tickets

People who buy tickets for concerts and other events should be told the full price up front, says the consumers' organisation Which?

It says booking and postage costs may not become clear until customers have almost completed buying their tickets.

It also says charges fail to reflect the actual value of the service and can add up to 30% more to ticket prices.

People who buy through ticket agencies may not get their booking fees returned if an event is cancelled, Which? warns.

"Airlines have taken a bashing recently for adding sneaky extra charges to the cost of tickets, but they're not the only ones," said Neil Fowler, editor of Which?

"We found ticket agencies hiking the cost of tickets by nearly a third with various fees and postage costs.

"These charges only become apparent when people are well into the buying process - they should be made clear up front so that people can compare prices properly," he added.

Extensive work

The additional charges for buying tickets over the phone or the internet, either from a ticket agent or a venue's own box office, are widely seen as unjustified.

We have done the work for which we have charged the customer Nick Blackburn, Seetickets

Which? found in a survey of its members that nearly 90% thought that the fees should be part of the advertised price.

"The cost of booking fees is never stated in any ticket advertising - in fact, it is very rare for ticket face-value prices to be advertised at all," said Which.

"Often, the first the consumer hears about them is when they go through to a sales site or phone line to book the tickets," it added.

Nick Blackburn, of agency Seetickets, defended the practice of retaining the booking fee or postal charge if a ticket had to be refunded because of cancellation.

"I believe we have the right to retain that booking fee as we have done the work for which we have charged the customer," he told Which?.

"When we have to refund the customer following cancellation, the cost of that work is covered by the original booking fee and for large concerts or events, this work can be extensive," he said.

High and low

In a snapshot of extra charges for two events in London this coming August, Which? found that the mark-ups varied widely.

The lowest charge from an authorised seller of tickets to see the musical Buddy at the Duchess Theatre was levied by Ticketswitch.

It charged just �5.00, or 5%, on two tickets with a combined face value of �110.

The most expensive was a 30% mark-up on the same tickets from Theatre Tickets Direct, who charged an extra �32.64.

The mark-up on tickets to see a concert by REM at Twickenham ranged from 14% to 21%, for two tickets with a combined face value of �90.

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