Gig-goers hit with extra 'facility fee' totalling millions each year
Gig-goers are being hit with extra costs totalling millions of euros a year by venues adding extra fees to tickets.
One of Ireland's busiest concert venues, the 3Arena in Dublin's docklands, adds €2 to every ticket purchased, describing the charge as a venue's 'facility fee'.
The extra charge is not referred to on the ticket section of the venue's website, and the customer only learns of it when they get to the 'checkout' on the Ticketmaster site. The 3Arena, Dublin. Pic: Getty Images
The extra charge on tickets for the 3Arena was introduced in 2016 but at the time it was €1. The venue is owned and operated by Live Nation, which also owns Ticketmaster, and it is unknown when it was doubled to €2 as a company spokesman declined to comment.
The 3Arena had a total attendance of more than one million concertgoers and generated box office revenues of €71.4million last year.
Fianna Fáil TD Shay Brennan said: 'Theatres are free to set their own ticket prices. However, this price should be made very clear up front to the customer, both in terms of the total cost and a transparent explanation of what any additional charges relate to.' Fianna Fáil TD Shay Brennan. Pic: Facebook
He added: 'Hidden fees and the practice of nickel-and-diming customers should not be tolerated in any business.'
The Ambassador Theatre, on O'Connell Street in Dublin, was recently reopened for events and is currently being run by concert promoters MCD, hosting a significant number of comedy shows.
Like the 3Arena, there is no mention on its website of any extra charges, but if a customer tries to purchase two tickets for A Celebration Of Father Ted in November, when they get to the 'checkout' on the Ticketmaster website, they will see 'venue facility fee' of €2. Pic: Photocall Ireland
A spokesman for MCD did not respond to a request for a comment.
Asked about the extra charges, a Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment spokesman said: 'Consumer law requires traders to provide certain information to consumers prior to purchase. This includes the total price, inclusive of taxes, allowing consumers to make an informed choice to purchase or not.
'Individual businesses can decide on the prices of the products they sell, and they are permitted to adjust their prices in response to demand or other factors once an accurate price is displayed to the consumer in advance of the sale.' The 3Olympia Theatre. Pic: Naoise Culhane
Dublin's 3Olympia Theatre has an extra charge of €1.50 on tickets, and on its website, it is referred to as a 'restoration levy'.
The theatre is owned by Denis and Caroline Desmond, directors of MCD, which is owned by Live Nation, which manages the theatre.
The €1 'restoration levy' was introduced in January 2016, and it is not known when it rose to €1.50 as an MCD spokesman declined to comment.
Two other theatres in Dublin with extra fees on tickets are the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, which charges €1.50, and the Gaiety Theatre, which adds the same.
Both theatres inform the customer of the extra charges on their websites.
Reporting by Barry Hartigan
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