On April 17th, it was reported that concert tickets have been in high demand since last year, especially those of popular singers like Jay Chou and Wu Bai.
However, recently, there has been a surge of complaints from netizens about the unseemly behavior of ticketing platforms.
According to the regulations of Damai.cn, when tickets are sold out, users can use the standby function to purchase tickets online. They need to prepay the full amount. When new inventory becomes available, tickets will be allocated based on the payment order of standby orders.
Although the overall process is similar to standby train tickets on 12306, Damai platform charges a standby service fee of 6% of the total ticket price.
This has prompted many netizens to complain: Is the service fee reasonable? Why can you buy tickets when they are sold out by paying an additional service fee?
Damai website stated that the 6% standby service fee is based on the platform's technology development and operational maintenance costs.
However, this explanation is currently not convincing enough for users, as there are still numerous doubts being raised.
In addition to the extra fees for standby services, netizens also criticized Damai website for starting presales of Jay Chou's concert tickets six months in advance, with high prices.
The most significant issue is that cancellations incur a hefty 30% processing fee, which seems disproportionate considering audiences cannot foresee emergencies six months ahead that might prevent them from attending.
In some cases, purchasing tickets requires prior VIP membership, which is entirely unreasonable. The Consumer Protection Commission has even stated that this practice infringes upon consumers' legal rights and raises suspicions of bundled sales.
