You Really Got Me
I recently purchased a pair of tickets to see Ray Davies at the Bardavon Opera house, who put on a memorable show at a wonderful old venue.
But since I'm not a Bardavon member, I had to use Ticketmaster to purchase them online. And doing so required the establishment of a Ticketmaster account, whether I wanted one or not (I didn’t).
Soon after purchasing the tickets, I started receiving e-mails from Ticketmaster, and as I do with all unsolicited e-mail, I looked for the “unsubscribe” link, which took me to a page on the Ticketmaster site that read as follows:
You are subscribed to the e-mails listed below. To unsubscribe, please check the corresponding box(es).
-TicketAlert
-Ray Davies PerformerAlert
-Special Event-Related Offers
-Unsubscribe From ALL
Although I never signed up for any of these alerts, I knew it was the price I had to pay for the convenience of using their site (along with the exhorbitant service fees). And although I appreciate the fact they put the "unsubscribe" in bold type, the disclaimer that followed left my jaw dropping in disbelief:
“Regardless of your selections above, if you purchase a ticket, or if you complete a registration form in order to be able to purchase a ticket to an event or to receive a TicketAlert®, then parties associated with that event or Alert may still be provided with your information and may still contact you. Please see our privacy policy to learn how we use and disclose information you submit.”
Any disclaimer that begins with the phrase “regardless of your selection” certainly doesn’t bode well, but this one takes the cake for chutzpah. And while there’s nothing I can do about it, at least they’re open about it—now that it’s too late.
So next time you use Ticketmaster, be prepared to surrender some personal information along with all those service fees.