NEW YORK — Bruce Spring steen fans were victims of a “classic bait-and-switch” scam by the nation’s largest concert-ticket seller, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said Sunday, as he called for a federal investigation into the company, Ticketmaster.
Schumer wants the Federal Trade Commission to look into whether the Ticketmaster website withheld the best tickets from the public, then shuttled fans to TicketsNow, a fully owned subsidiary.
TicketsNow had the best tickets available immediately — at sky-high prices — after the Springsteen tickets went on sale at 10 a.m. on Feb. 2.
A federal investigation would look into whether Ticketmaster was instantly scalping the tickets, never giving fans a chance to buy at face value, Schumer said. Customers who tried to buy tickets originally priced at $95 on Ticketmaster’s website were directed to TicketsNow, where they were priced at more than $2,000.
The tickets that went on sale included an April 10 show at the Pepsi Center.
“At 10 a.m. on Ticketmaster they were all sold out, then at 10:01 a.m. the same tickets are on TicketsNow for double the price,” Schumer said. “We want to find out how did they become available at TicketsNow so fast?”
A Ticketmaster spokesman did not respond to telephone and e-mail requests for comment Sunday. Ticketmaster chief executive Irving Azoff issued an apology after Spring steen denounced the company’s actions.
“Fans who thought they were going to ‘The Promised Land’ of Springsteen found themselves in the ‘Badlands’ of ticket scalpers,” Schumer said.
Schumer said he also wants to put the brakes on Ticketmaster’s proposed merger with Live Nation, the nation’s largest concert promoter.
Since buying TicketsNow last February, Ticketmaster has faced similar criticism for its handling of Elton John tickets in Canada and numerous U.S. concert tours, including Radiohead. Law enforcement agencies in Connecticut and New Jersey have also launched investigations.
