Several Rolling Stones fans say they got no satisfaction from today’s presale ticket availability ahead of the legendary rock group's local concert this summer.
The Rolling Stones are bringing their No Filter tour to Burl’s Creek Event Grounds in Oro-Medonte Township on Saturday, June 29, which is Canada Day weekend. It's the only Canadian stop on the tour for the iconic rockers.
While all tickets will go on sale Friday beginning at 10 a.m., today was an opportunity for the presale crowd to get the jump on the queue.
Presale tickets went on sale at 10 a.m. today and within minutes, the Burl’s Creek Facebook page was flooded with people upset at a last-minute price jump for general admission tickets.
Barrie resident Michael Spurrier, who was one of many fans who posted their frustration on the venue's Facebook page, told OrilliaMatters that he was one of the legendary English rock group's fans who signed up for the presale event and was shocked to see how much his tickets cost at the website's checkout.
“The tickets were supposed to be $99 plus a $20 service fee,” said Spurrier. “When I went through all the different screens and got to the cash-out page, the tickets jumped to $179, plus the $20 service charge.
"I thought maybe I did something wrong, so I went back and did it again. But it gave me the same result," he added.
Spurrier said his wife followed the same process and it came out the same way.
That's when he noticed similar experiences being expressed by fellow fans commenting on Facebook.
Spurrier called Ticketmaster to find out what was happening only to get an answer he couldn’t believe.
“I tried Burl’s Creek, but there’s no number that works for them, so I called Ticketmaster and was told it must have been my fault in something I did,” said Spurrier.
“I told them that it wasn’t and many people seem to be having the issue and they said they’d refund my tickets. I didn’t want that as I wanted the tickets, but at the price they said it would be and I pushed to get a manager and was told they’d knock off the $20 (service fee) per ticket for me," he said.
"That doesn’t help the $80 that was added before that and now I have until the end of the day to accept that offer or I’ll remain charged $1,200 for the six tickets, which is $480 more than they should be," he added.
OrilliaMatters also tried getting the tickets priced at $99 and followed all the prompts, only to end up at the check-out page with the final tally showing they were automatically upgraded to $179.
Republic Live, which is producing the Stones concert, was asked about the hike in ticket prices.
In a statement, the company said: “During pre-sales today, there were a limited number of tickets allocated to each price level. When one price level sold out, customers were automatically redirected to the next pricing level of tickets to complete their purchase if they wished to continue."
The company added it continues to look into the situation.
"We are aware of the issue and are working with Ticketmaster on a solution for tomorrow's round of presales and public on sale this Friday," the statement added.
Spurrier says he tried several times and was always able to initially get the $99 tickets.
“If they were sold out of the $99 tickets, I shouldn’t have been able to go back in a couple times to redo the process," he said. "Again, my wife did it, too, so if they were sold out, we wouldn’t have been able to recreate the purchase.
"Seems like a bit of a money grab.”
Others commented on the Burl's Creek Facebook page saying it was still a fair price to pay to see the band.
"Remember, this is the Rolling Stones! Their only Canadian stop," wrote one person.
"It's only an additional $60 (119 to 179)... still totally worth it in my opinion," wrote another.
Another fan agreed with Spurrier.
"Really disappointed with the pricing. It shows $119, but Ticketmaster bumps you to the $199 prices after you secure your tickets. Heard this has happened to a lot of people," she wrote. "If the price is there, I think it should be honoured. Ticketmaster said they can't. I had to ask for a refund for my entire order."
