Most of you know I’ve had a hate/hate relationship with Ticketmaster for a long time now.
After all, this is the company that wrote the book on ridiculous consumer fees that, many people argue, only serve to exploit their hapless customers; it’s a practice that’s all the more galling because of their current market dominance which, if you ask me, borders on a monopoly.
Last weekend, Ticketmaster gave me yet another excuse to despise them. I was on their website trying to purchase seats for an upcoming Maroon 5 concert at the Hollywood Bowl — which wasn’t easy considering I was typing with my right hand while holding my nose with the left — when I came to the obligatory “Captcha” screen that is used by many websites to weed out automated bots.
I think most of you are familiar with Captcha. Normally, you’ll see something like this:
So perhaps you can imagine my surprise when I saw this:
That’s right. Instead of an innocuous two-word verification code, I got an advertisement with a longer marketing slogan for a password: “Save with DISH.”
Now, I won’t begrudge a company’s quest to make a few extra cents through strategically-placed advertising; obviously, I do it here on my blog. But this was a bit much for me to take considering that it was coming from Ticketmaster.
Why, I figured, couldn’t Ticketmaster be satisfied with the ticket sale and their infamous 25% “convenience” fee they were going to get after I clicked the “purchase” button — especially considering they’re the only game in town?
Needless to say, I refused to play their game.
Instead, I opted for a new set of words, hoping the traditional Captcha screen would come up. Unfortunately, I got another advertisement from Dish — only with a new, even-longer, slogan: “Watch Live TV Anywhere.”
I still wasn’t going to bite. So I hit the “New Word” option yet again and got an ad for Dawn Ultra dish soap. This time, however, the ad specified that I had to click the ad box a second time before it would reveal the code. I know.
By now, I was curious to see how much more absurd this whole process could get, so I played along and clicked the ad. That revealed the longest password yet: “Dawn cleans 2x more greasy dishes.” I’m not kidding, folks.
Obviously, the Captcha slogans were getting longer with each request I made for a new verification code. And it didn’t take a genius to see that it wouldn’t be long before a McDonald’s Big Mac ad was going to pop up asking me to type, “Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun.”
With that in mind, I knew that if I was going to get any tickets before they sold out, it was in my best interest to enter that dang dish soap tagline into Ticketmaster’s new money-making Captcha tool.
So I swallowed my pride and typed.
A few minutes and $55.40 in “convenience” fees later, I had four tickets in my hand to see Maroon 5 at the Hollywood Bowl.
You’d think I would have been happy after scoring tickets to a high-demand event, but I wasn’t.
Then again, with Ticketmaster, that’s par for the course.
Photo Credits: cafefrenzy.com; Len Penzo
If this trend catches on I just may have to opt out of the Internet. Sigh.
These CAPTCHA ads are provided through a company called Solve Media. I think they are actually a clever way of solving a problem no one particularly enjoyed (deciphering scrambled words).
It may be fun for some people, Frenchman, but not me. Especially when, instead of a short two-word pass code I get stuck having to type “Dawn cleans 2x more greasy dishes.” Really?
If I have to play along, how about something simple like: “Dawn Dishsoap”?
Internet is full of these what I call gimmicks. Adverts are Okay. That’s how bloggers try to make money. But it should be done in such a way that does not annoy the visitor.
Regardless, going to any kind of games should be fun. However, the price of the ticket is getting to be so high that less and less folks would be able to go to these games.
Wow that’s insane… I’m glad I don’t really go to concerts or else I’d be pissed off on a regular basis…
I noticed this when I bought tickets recently too! It is very annoying.
I would bet that those ads do more harm than good. I bet you’re less likely to buy Dawn and Dish after having to deal with those absurd ads.
LOL! Well, no.
Actually, Sean, we use Dawn dish soap at our house, and we have had Dish for years; the Honeybee will never change. She thinks Dish has the best customer service on the planet and, truth be told, I think their new Hopper feature is the bomb.
Len you’re not being frugal! We buy our dawn-equivalent dish soap in a huge bottle at Dollar Tree for $1.
You knew I had to have a ticketmaster story, right? I ordered tickets to see a live performance of “This American Life,” in Boston. Ordered about three months before the show.
The tickets got to my house the day of the show after we already left. I had to go to the box office and show an ID along with the credit card and I was seated.
So to prove a point, I disputed the charge. In the end, the credit card company agreed to charge me just the face value of the ticket, but since I sent them the proof that ticketmaster did not make it convenient, they wiped away the fees.
You’re my hero, Joe.
Ticketmaster Sucks big time.. We all hate them but They are not gonna change unless we fight and burn them down..
join the movement with us against Ticketmaster and unethical practices like scalping.
Click my link to check our blog and feel free to share your views and experiences with us.
Captchas have caused me no end of hassle, especially with ticketing services. I feel your pain, Len!
I always wonder do they ask you to turn your head and cough….since they are doing a proctology exam might as well do it right…and yes it is scalping no matter what they say. the good news is they will reaching the end of their life span soon as a business. I also wonder how long it will be before the government noticed they have money and well government does as government will…..their TURN in the barrell
Hey Len,
Why don’t ya try to get some of your money back and invest in LYV ? 🙂 Instead of bitchin’ buy (some of) the company like the razor guy did…
Well, Paul, in the old days that might have been a reasonable plan. But the stock market is completely rigged right now. So I refuse to play that game.
The Fed’s monetary policies have ruined the markets’ price discovery mechanism. As such it’s impossible to tell what a fair price is for anything anymore.
That’s annoying but I have to give them credit for being clever. Somebody looked at the CAPTCHA and saw an opportunity, and it obviously paid off as DISH bought into it. I’d get annoyed too but if my end result were simply the tickets, I guess I could live with it.
GAH. Almost all the ticketing systems have now incorporated ridiculous fees. It’s absurd. Just tell my the price you’re going to charge me upfront–quit lying about it!
Ticket brokers are getting ridiculous with their fees. There should not be that much overhead to processing a ticket. I guess we need to vote with out dollars in order to change their behavior.
And then, on top of everything else, you have to sit through a Maroon 5 concert. I’m so sorry.
Sixteen comments. Well … I told the Honeybee the over/under on somebody razzing me about getting tickets to see Maroon 5 was seven (and I picked under).
Dang it. The least you could have done was leave your comment a day earlier, Greg! 😉
One of my readers emailed this article from Sunday’s web edition of the New York Times on Ticketmaster’s use of Captcha to “slow down” bots (although it doesn’t discuss the use of Captcha ads):
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/27/business/media/bots-that-siphon-off-tickets-frustrate-concert-promoters.html
That’s quite a coincidence considering, as best as I can remember, Ticketmaster has been using Captcha for a long time.
Anyway, I find it interesting that Ticketmaster admits they don’t try to completely eliminate the bots. Why don’t they? So chalk up yet another reason why I can’t stand Ticketmaster.
Ticketmaster is THE WORST! Great story of bad customer service Len. Thanks for sharing.
And I must also echo Greg’s sentiments. Bummer on to of bummer for you.
Brilliant concept, actually.
Yep.
Loved this, Len! I hate those morons at Ticketmaster too. Glad to know I’m not alone.
You’re very welcome, Mia.
Thanks for the wonderful read, Len.