Ticketmaster wrote to Family Money concerning last week's article "Coup for consumers as concert promoter fined". In the latter half of the article, a customer complained about his £87 (€110.47) bill for booking two concert tickets by credit card. He says he was charged a £3.50 creditcard charge booking fee on each £40 concert ticket.

Ticketmaster says it does not charge a credit card fee. "The charge is for providing a 24-hour service and the only safe method of payment is by credit card. The bank acts as a facilitator between the customer and Ticketmaster. When booking is being made, the bank checks the customer's credit rating. The bank then advances the amount of money to Ticketmaster, and in turn debits the customer's account. The bank then charges Ticketmaster a percentage of the overall sum advanced, not just the service charge amount."

This "booking fee" is the charge placed on the promoter by Ticketmaster for providing Statewide box office sales.

Since tickets at face value are always available at the concert venue's box office or from music stores, customers paying by credit card are paying for the convenience and home delivery of tickets, says Ticketmaster.

Venues where no fee is charged, like the National Concert Hall, the Abbey and the Gate theatres receive substantial subsidies from the taxpayer via the Arts Council, says Ticketmaster. According to the ticketing agency, "the customer gets a great deal. We make every ticket at every price for every performance available nationwide. Nobody expects a service for nothing and our prices are reasonable and fair."