The following is my letter to Nathan Hubbard, the CEO of Ticketmaster. I sent this letter to Mr. Hubbard shortly after the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony. It was returned because of an insufficient address. There are several different addresses for Ticketmaster corporate offices. The second try was more than a month ago. Clearly it arrived but Mr. Hubbard has not responded. If and when he responds I will post his reply.

Nathan Hubbard, CEO
Ticketmaster Corp.
9348 Civic Center Dr.
Beverly Hills, CA 90210

Dear Mr. Hubbard,

I recently celebrated my birthday by attending the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony. As an avid fan of Rush for more than 30 years this opportunity provided a once-in-a-lifetime memory.

I enjoyed it immensely. It was without a doubt one of those “moments” in life one talks about years later. I got to be there! But it cost me a hell of a lot of money.

Don’t worry. This is not a letter complaining about the extraordinary fees your company tacks on to tickets sales. I resolved to myself years ago to accept the 30 to 40 percent addition of fees, handling charges, etc. I enjoy attending live concerts and in order to go I have to accept it. If you check my account you will see I am a faithful customer of Ticketmaster.

What I am writing to you about is your company’s dirty and despicable ticket selling tactics. This method of ripping the music fan off must come from your direction since you are the CEO. I will be brief but I want to explain to what happened during the purchase of these tickets.

On Feb. 1 Hall of Fame tickets went on sale. My wife and I both using different computers logged in at 10 a.m. to purchase tickets. Somehow, in less than a minute the less expensive $100 tickets were unavailable. In fact, those tickets were deemed sold out almost immediately. So, my wife blessed me with a most precious birthday gift. We opted to dig into our wallets and buy the $350 ticket. Initially there were no $350 seats together so I bought one then a second for my wife to attend. Luckily, the seats were only two rows a part directly behind one another.

Imagine my surprise when seven weeks later, magically $100 tickets suddenly were available. What’s even more shocking is I discovered these magic seats a day after the announcement and I was still able to find two seats together just a few rows behind the $350 seats! Figuring this event would be a sell-out we decided to buy the cheaper “magic” seats and sell the expensive ones.

Ebay was a joke. Hundreds of tickets were being sold. Hundreds! I opted to take a chance with ticketliquidator.com as it seemed to be a legitimate company. (If I had the time and resources to look, I’d bet you and your company have a stake in this ticket reseller.) To wrap it up, I was able to sell one of the expensive tickets for a little less than what I paid and I ate the cost of the other – more than $380.

At the event I found another person who got robbed in the same manner and yet someone else was able to buy tickets at the window for $100. What I can tell you is this event was not sold-out at least attendance wise. Seats were empty all around me as well as empty throughout the Loge section.

Mr. Hubbard – can you please explain to me how these “magic” seats suddenly came into existence? The manner and method in which Ticketmaster operates is exactly why the elected fools in Washington try to push more laws and regulations to govern and dictate how private business should be run. As long as the dishonest and corrupt financially rape the American consumer than the dishonest and corrupt with elected power dictate the terms of business ruining it for everyone.

Yes I would like a response from you on where these magic seats came from. I do not want a PR Flak to send me a form letter that clearly shows he/she never even read my letter and simply printed a pre-written letter to address complaints. I’d send along with this letter proof of my $350 ticket purchase plus fees however I figured it could stand as the most expensive worthless item I’ve ever bought.

People in this country complain so much about the direction of this country yet they never speak up, they are content to whine and complain. I’ve thought about just keeping quiet but then how can I ever expect change to happen? Ticketmaster provides a great service to the American culture but you are out of control in the grab for profiting off the backs of the music and sports fan.

I am writing to perhaps light a fire under you and tap into whatever decency you have and maybe you can bring about change. Yes, money does indeed make the world go around but eventually when life gets overly expensive more important priorities take over and that leaves you and your company without any customers.