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Bruce Springsteen, Ticketmaster Won’t Be Fined for Springsteen Ticket Flap

24 Feb
By BRIAN THOMPSON
NBCNewYork.com
updated 5 minutes ago

Ticketmaster has agreed to an out-of-court settlement with the New Jersey attorney general’s office over its sale of tickets to upcoming Bruce Springsteen concerts at the Izod Center in the Meadowlands.

Fans who tried to buy tickets online several weeks ago complained that within seconds of the tickets going on sale online, the Ticketmaster Web site was directing people to a subsidiary called TicketsNow, which acts as a re-seller of tickets at a much higher price.

Some 2,200 complaints were made to New Jersey’s Division of Consumer Affairs over the Web site and what many felt was a “bait and switch.”

Ticketmaster has agreed to refund the difference for fans who bought at the higher-priced TicketsNow site. Also, 2,000 tickets for the shows will be made available for purchase in a random drawing for everyone who actually filed complaints with the state.

Ticketmaster has agreed for the next year, at least, it will not show a link from its primary Web site to the TicketsNow site. After, any proposed link will need personal approval of New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram.

The company also agreed that it will no longer buy internet advertising that would steer people searching for Ticketmaster, on Google, for example, over to the higher-priced TicketsNow site.

Though Ticketmaster is not being fined, it agreed to pay $350,000 to cover the state’s cost in this investigation.

Milgram also revealed that talks have begun for more Springsteen concerts later this year, and if those who filed a complaint don’t win the lottery for some of the extra seats being made available for the May concerts, then they will get a $100 gift certificate plus the right to buy tickets to one of the future concerts.

Bruce Springsteen, Reader’s Comments, Mighty Max

24 Feb
fridaybrucefix
fridaybrucefix.com
exmtl@hotmail.com
99.242.8.68

I’m with Steve on this one. It really wouldn’t be the same without Max. That mind reading thing he does is pretty critical and based on 35 years of watching Bruce’s every move from the best seat in the house. I’d rather Max found a celebrity drummer to sub in for him on Conan’s show. Too bad Keith Moon’s not still around.

Bruce Springsteen, Reader’s Comments, Ticketmaster Fiasco

24 Feb
Attzje Deubach
attzje@comcast.net
76.25.102.155

Wow who knew I thought I was alone out there when it came to getting screwed by Ticketmaster/ticketsnow.com. While facing many of the same obstacles as others have sited in the multiple complaints. I ended up getting 8 tickets when in reality I only wanted 3. There was so much going on that I never realized how many times the screen was re-routing me. Like many others I just wanted to get tickets for our family of three. As retired military you can only imagine my shock and awe when the email arrived within minutes saying that my total bill due was $2434.55 Who has that kind of money to spend on concert tickets. I immediately called our bank to try to stop the transaction. The bank told me they couldn’t because I had used my debit/credit card and the funds were promised to the seller.

Now in a state of panic, I tried the number for TicketsNow.com listening to music for twenty minuites and when I reached someone was put on hold and when the representative came back on I was told there was nothing they could do to stop the sale. However, there was a silver lining – I could resell the tickets via TicketsNow.com including another 15% fee once they were in my pocession. I was horrified. Thinking that the tickets would arrive quickly since they were being sent via “FED-EX” I had people waiting at my house at all times when I wasn’t home so that someone could sign for the tickets as they told me that they would require a signature.

For two weeks I waited and /or had someone in my home. My Dad is terminally ill and I am leaving this week for Indiana. The only thing I wanted to do is sell the extra five I don’t need before I leave and put the over paid cash back in my account. Time is critical.

I called again after the two weeks and explained that I had no idea where the tickets were and could some please help me. The rep was friendly enough but informed me that the tickets had not been sent out yet. I told him my situation, and he said he would get the tickets cut and sent. Three days later they arrived, I cried when the face value said the ticket really was $95.00, how the heck could anyone charge the final price of $304.32 per ticket when the ticket was really only $95.00 per ticket according to the price on each ticket. If my husband was not a die hard fan, following Bruce’s whole career, dragging The Boss’s cd’s through his tour to Middle East I would have never got the THREE tickets let alone EIGHT!!! Please let me give you my Order Number to verify this purchase 7-11145. Should you need any further info or UPC codes please contact me immediately as I have to go take care of my father. Won’t return to Colorado Springs until the 7th of April. Did you want that ticket number too? Will be awaiting your response, and would appreciate the opportunity to perhaps recoup the above ticket face value that TicketMaster has taken. A. Deubach

Bruce Springsteen, Van Zandt on Max Weinberg’s Busy Dance Card

24 Feb

Last week NBC’s website confirmed that drummer/bandleader Max Weinberg is definitely coming to Los Angeles when Conan O’Brien takes over The Tonight Show. So what does that mean for Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band’s tour, which kicks off a European leg two days before Conan’s June 1st Tonight Show premiere? “We’re still figuring that out,” says E Street guitarist Steve Van Zandt. “We’ll see. I think Max will be there for most of it. I just got home from Europe, so I haven’t even talked to Max to see what the latest news is. I know he was very much trying to figure it out.”

Photo: Pereira/WireImage

Photo: Pereira/WireImage

When Max himself spoke to Rolling Stone earlier this year he described NBC’s extreme patience over his frequent absences, hitting the road with the increasingly busy Springsteen. “It’s a hell of a problem to have in this economy,” he said, explaining that a well known NBC sitcom star’s attorney asked why Weinberg was allowed sabbaticals when his client couldn’t take one to film a movie. “The NBC lawyer thought for a second, then said, ‘The next time Bruce Springsteen asks your client to play drums, she can do that.’ In the legal department it’s known as the Weinberg-Springsteen Rule.”

Whether or not the Weinberg-Springsteen rule applies to the first few weeks of The Tonight Show, however, is up in the air. “Max will be fine until the beginning of the show on June 2nd,” says Van Zandt. “After that, we’ll see. I’m sure Max will be there for most, if not all of the tour. He’s as dedicated as it gets. I used to have to fly home every day off and film The Sopranos. He may have to do something like that. Conan, it must be said, has been tremendous. Once that second banana [former sidekick Andy Richter] split, I started to get concerned. I was like ‘Uh-oh. Now Max is not only the music director, he’s also the second banana.’ That’s a huge role to play.”

Is the band thinking about a possible temporary replacement? “No names have come up yet,” says Van Zandt. “I don’t know if it’s quite at that stage.” The E Street Band hasn’t played a show without Weinberg since he joined in 1974. “It’s hard for me to picture a show without Max, honestly,” says Van Zandt. “It really won’t be the E Street Band. I guess various members will come and go as we go through these last few years together. If there’s a few shows where he’s not there, I’m sure it will be fine. Most of the time he’s gotta be there though. There’s no drummer that could replace Max. There might be someone temporary that comes in and we’ll have to adjust the show accordingly. What nobody understands is that not only is Max a great drummer, Max reads Bruce’s mind. You can’t learn that. That’s impossible to learn. You could spend months rehearsing and you’ll never get that.”