Alright, so I think I might like to go to the upcoming NIN concert, which is coming in June. This morning, I figure it would be best to get tickets sooner rather than later, so I wander over to Ticketmaster's web site to see what the deal is. After a bit of clicking around, I find the page with info about the event I'm after.

Ok, first of all, I'll say this: By the .asp extensions which pop up all over the place, I surmise that in all likelihood, this site is probably running NT. And by the performance of the server, it shows. Not a compliment, to say the least. Ok, the main site isn't that bad, but when it redirects you to the server where you're actually supposed to buy the tickets, the thing acts like it's been slashdotted to hell, even though (to my knowledge) no such extraneous circumstances currently exist.

But the main purpose of this rant is not to deride the obvious cluelessness of the webmasters of said site for their poor choice in server platforms. The main purpose of this rant is to bitch about the gratuitous pricing schemes, which almost make Microsoft's draconian software licensing plans look good in comparison.

Face charge per ticket: $42.50. That's on the high side, but not terribly surprising. According to the little pulldown selector, that would seem to be a flat rate, no matter which section you get. Ok, so I figured I'd see what there is, and chose "Best available", and clicked next. Ok, now here's where it gets stupid:

After clicking the little button, I waited, and waited, and waited. I finally got tired of waiting for the next page to load, and went off to get something to eat. When I returned, leftover tacos in hand, I was presented with some info. Floor tickets are available (nice), but the price had gone up by over ten bucks!

Now I'm no stranger to service changes, but this is fscking ridiculous. Face value: $42.50. Ticketmaster Convenience Change: $7.00. I guess by "convenience", they mean making surfers wait long periods of time for their piece of shit NT server to load the page. Building Facility Charge: $3.50. Shouldn't that be covered under the price of the ticket? At the above price, I would think so. Tax: $0.00. Now that is surprising. For one rare moment in history, it ain't the government that's screwing people's wallets over. Ticketmaster Handling Charge: $3.00. And just what does this add that wasn't covered by the "Convenience Charge"? Thought so. It's just another opportunity to screw the consumer. Total: $56.00.

Now I love the music of NIN, but this... I don't think so. It ain't that I couldn't afford it if I wanted to. It's just the principle of the thing. Price gouging, plain and simple. I guess we now really get to learn what Trent's been trying to tell us all along: god money reins supreme.

I think I'll stay home and listen to the cd again.