Ticketmaster was better than this crap. Rockets charge outrageous fees for tickets

The $ stands for - money always on his mind, mind always on his money.

 

danm, for some reason i forgot to add the parking price to that. I have no problem paying $5 for parking but when i have to pay $7.50 for things i dont even see that begins to anger me. it all ads up...and more than the ticket that I paid for which is the whole reason I am in downtown!

 

Thanks TS, but isn't Les a business man? He's tryin to make money any way he can. Can u blame him for tryin to make more? The world is built on money......He jus wants more of it. ( dont get me wrong, I dont agree w/ wut he's doin, but I do understand it.) He'll figure it out when his ticket sales start goin down......the b*stard.....

 

who needs covered parking? It's not like it rains much in Houston, anyways. lol

By comparison, the Spurs charge $1.35 "Building Facility Charge" and $3 "Convenience Charge" per ticket (Ticketmaster). However, they offer $7 parking as well as $14 parking (I don't know if its more expensive because its covered or if its closer).

Still, a $7.50 service charge is very weak

Looks like its NBA League Pass again this year!

(Go Horns!)

 

I think you just gave them an idea about how to "increase attendance" aka further alienate the fans.

It seems like the next step, after these outrageous practices drive the fans to watch from home.

 

I think the only person saving money by not using Ticketmaster this year is Lester. Cut out the middleman and horde all the profits.

Last night, I was all excited and picked out 10 games I wanted to attend this season. After selecting a section and viewing the arena map a dozen times, I finally got to the check out page and noticed the charges. Long story short... I didn't buy the tickets.

10 Games worth of fees adds up to a few extra games I could go to.. I haven't made up my mind if I'm gonna go to the box office and try to avoid the fees.

Anyone know if they are charging the fees at the box office? Tomorrows practice outing might be a good time to pick up tickets.

 

I remember a few months ago, when the Rockets and a few other people, were making such a big deal about how we would have more $10 seats than ever before with the new arena.............and now you know the rest of the story.....good day!

 

No need to complain. Talking about freak Wizzards team this year, their cheapest 10-game plan costs $35/game (buy from them directly). I think Wizzards' arena will never be filled this season.

They just want to make more money, never enough.

 

Well.

First things first. Rockford would've kicked Spencer's a**.

A few other things, specifically regarding ticket surcharges.

1. The surcharges are currently lower than what Ticketmaster proposed to us if they had continued to handle our ticketing last year.

2. The surcharges are currently lower than what you have to pay for the same priced seats in Dallas or San Antonio, both Ticketmaster venues. I know. My staff spent the entire morning making buys on their systems to test out every pricing level.

If you don't believe me on that, check it out for yourself.

3. Even with that, we've listened. Surcharges on tickets under $20 or less will be reduced. The decision was made this afternoon. We'll have the changes in place early next week.

Surcharges are a reality of the business -- setting up on-line and phone ordering ticketing systems takes an enormous amount of resources. There are phone networks to set up, huge computer networks, software development costs, and huge manpower costs. Still, at the end of the day, we'll have surcharges that will be less than they are for the other two franchises in the state.

As somebody mentioned earlier, one way to avoid a surcharge entirely is to buy a mini-pack. No surcharge at all there.

For anyone who is having a problem getting their tickets, or feels like they're being told things that don't make sense, e-mail me directly at timm@rocketball.com. A number of you have already done this when you've had issues -- if you've followed the board, we've typically been able to resolve the issues you've raised pretty quickly. Some of the stories here sound like real horror stories the way they've been relayed. Maybe some of it has to do with the complications of getting a new building opened -- we've talked to our counteparts who've done the same, and they have some of the same stories -- but that doesn't make it right and we want you to be happy. We'll get you taken care of.

Send me a description of the issue. Or, find us tomorrow at the open practice -- our entire sales force will be out there, helping prospective buyers pick out seat locations and helping people who have already bought with any questions or problems they have.

As for parking -- it's been covered here before in exhaustively. Yes, suiteholders and clubholders have the first option on the parking garage. Those tickets are priced much higher than any other tickets in the building, and there is a substantial parking premium built into those seat prices. It's not free.

As for everyone else -- as Jeff has pointed out, this puts us on par with every other team in the league, and every other team in Houston. Compaq Center had the unique circumstance of being built in the middle of a gigantic office complex (Greenway Plaza), so there was a huge amount of unused parking available in the evening. That was the only major sports facility in the US that had that situation. And yes, the parking cost was built into the tickets price.

Parking is separate here because we don't control the lots downtown -- separate entities own the land around the arena, just like they do for Minute Maid.

As for any comments about me not responding immediately to this thread -- please understand, we're trying to get an arena opened and it's an enormous task. We're all working extremely long hours. We expected that, and the results we'll get for doing that will be very emotionally rewarding. I do read as much of the board as I can. But, there's a reason most of my posts are after 11 p.m. or so ... that's about the only time many of us ever get to check in here.

Tim

 

First thing...damn right ...Rockford would kick Spencer's ass everyday and twice on Sundays..

and as for #3.
Thats called customer service guys..
thanks for listening and taking care of the problem.

and while I havent run into any of the problems desribed (mainly cause I cant afford minipacks or season tickets) I have seen in past threads how you guys have taken care of the problems that have come up...and Im sure those guys appreciate it.

You guys that are having trouble..take the man up on his offer before you entirely discount going to the games.

like I said earlier in this thread...even the previous service charges wouldn't have been enough to keep me from attending what games I can...thats what a fan does.

once again...thanks for being responsive to us, the fans..I'm sure most of us appreciate the personal touch.

now watch the accusations fly about me kissing butt...here they come

 

R2K,

Its not kissing butt. Tim deserves those kudos for coming in here, saying that there was a problem with the high surcharges on the cheaper tickets and saying that they are going to change that. Very classy.

EVen though none of this affects me, I also am impressed than Tim came in here, faced the music and responded to everyone's concerns.

Thanks Tim. I think everyone will eventually get used to the new system and hopefully, ease up on you a bit

 

Screw the Compaq Center parking. I think a lot of people forget it's because of the parking situation there that Houston couldn't get any NCAA Regionals because parking wasn't available during the day. What a joke.

Hopefully someone will report back after the game tomorrow with info on just how far away the $5 and $10 parking actually is. To be honest, I never expected to park in the garage.


As for the service charge, that is a joke.

 

Faos,

Honestly, I dont know why so many people are complaining about the parking. After 6 PM, there is alot of free parking around the arena (metered spots) that are probably a shorter walk to the new arena, in comparison with the Greenway parking/Compaq center.

I attend a ton of Astros games every year and I have found that a) These free/metered spots are usually only a 5 min walk and b) Have always been able to find one, even when its close to game time.

For reference, these spots are usually around McKinney and Lamar, right in front of the GRBCC.

 

Faos raises a very good point. We're in a great situation to bid for a regional now. It wasn't possible at Compaq, for a variety of reasons.

So everybody knows, the Compaq Center couldn't hold daytime matinee events during the week, either. That may not seem like a big deal to any of us working stiffs who can't go to events in the middle of the workday -- except when you realize it means no school field trips for kids.

Tim

 

I assume you mean it's own parking built in to the price of the tickets (and, therefore, seemingly free). Other arenas have had their own parking and parking facilties. They just tend to charge an additional fee for them.

As a matter of fact, a parking garage was all the development Reunion Arena ever produced, despite the promises from the Hunts. But it was a separate fee to park there, unlike Compaq.

 

By the way, I rode the DART train (for the first time) to the State Fair last weekend (actually, we rode it to City Place, and they had shuttle buses to Fair Park), and it was really cool.

If I ever go to a Mavericks game, I'll definitely take the rail (though I don't think it goes all the way to the AAC yet). You can't beat a $2.50 day pass.

 

Thanks for responding, Tim. You represent the organization well.

 

As usual Tim, you're all class. Quite often it seems you get put in a tight spot here and you manage to handle it with both guts and dignity. And you get the issue resolved. It's easy to see how qualified you are for your position. Hopefully Les realizes what an asset you are to the organization.

Ok, enough brown nosing for now....but thanks Tim from someone from out of town who does have to plan ahead, buy online and pay those surcharges to attend a Rocket game.

 

Pretty Unbelievable.

Anyone who reads my posts know Im not a pro-establishment type person. In today's poor customer center environment, it's amazing that someone in the Rockets organization reads this website andactually listens and responds to customer input.

Instead of just rationalizing the problem or trivializing the complaints, Tim is actually changing the pricing structure to accomodate the average fan.

That's FANtastic.

 

Exactly!

We have Tim (from the organization) answering our questions here & we also have Yao (the star player) responding to fans regularly on his BBS... Both must be the first among all NBA Teams/Players!

It's great to be a Rocket fan!