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Tag: Price Gouging

  • ‘Bruno Mars Act’ Proposed As A Resolution For Ticket Scalping

    Bruno Mars has been a big topic of discussion lately, given the recent ticket scalping debacle that evolved in Hawaii. The Unorthodox Jukebox singer may actually be a pillar for a new anti-scalping resolution.

    The awkward situation began when Mars’ scheduled concerts in Honolulu, HI sold out in less than three hours. While most would consider this a laudable feat, it was actually quite problematic where Mars is concerned.

    According to KHON2, only an estimated six percent of the tickets sold were actually purchased by individual fans. The vast majority of the tickets ended up being nabbed by opportunistic, online ticket brokers and scalpers to be sold at inflated rates.

    As a result of the massive imbalance, a substantial number of fans came up short, walking away empty-handed. Hawaii state legislators have taken the initiative to come up with a solution to rectify the situation. With a new law they’ve coined the Bruno Mars act, legislators are hoping to put an end to the price gouging practice.

    Hawaii State Senate President Donna Mercado Kim weighed in with her sentiments on the unethical practice. “Anyone who takes the time to show up in person should have the opportunity to purchase tickets for at least the first two days before opening up to online sales,” Kim said in her statement. “It’s unfortunate that out-of-state ticket brokers and scalpers will resell these concert tickets back to local residents for an enormous profit.”

    If the legislation passes the act in Hawaii, fans will have the opportunity to make ticket purchases approximately 48 hours before online sales begin. The bill will also serve as a preventive measure to prohibit the use of security software designed to bypass online barriers put in place to stop bulk ticket purchases.

    However, Kim stated that the ultimate goal will be to stop the practice of ticket scalping in its entirety. “If you’re a loyal fan standing in line to purchase a coveted concert ticket and  plan to attend that concert, you should be able to have more that six percent of  a chance to purchase ticket,” she explained.

    While the proposed legislative resolution isn’t considered a solidified law, Kim is hoping that the Bruno Mars Act will at least curb the staggering number of tickets nabbed by scalpers and ticket brokers.

    Image via Bruno Mars, Facebook

  • Wii U Pre-Orders Up For $1K on eBay

    Wii U Pre-Orders Up For $1K on eBay

    Either due to its popularity or due to manufacturing delays (probably a combination of both) pre-orders for the Wii U sold out in a manner of days and are now nearly impossible to find. Nearly, but not impossible.

    Anyone still needing to find a Wii U for the holidays can find one, but it will cost them. Intrepid entrepreneurs are now trying to hock their pre-orders via eBay and are charging ridiculous amounts to do so. Sellers are charging as much as $1,000 for the black 32 GB deluxe version of the Wii U. The original price for the deluxe version of the Wii U, which comes with a larger hard drive, the NintendoLand videogame, and a charging cradle for the GamePad, is $350.

    Of course, no one seems to be jumping at the systems being sold for $1,000. The current highest price for a Wii U pre-order that is actively being bid on at this time seems to be $500, as seen above. Ars Technica points out that a Wii U pre-order did sell back on September 27th for $749, the highest so far.

    These amounts could easily creep higher, though, as Christmas approaches and parents begin to get desperate to please their young gamers. So, perhaps those sellers price gouging for $1,000 actually know what they are doing, and believe that if they hold their ground until the Wii U’s November 18th release date they will find themselves with an extra $1K for their foresight.

  • Expensive Internet Charges Still Plague Hotel Patrons

    A little under a year ago, a report was released discussing how high-end hotels further gouge their customers by charging them an excessive amount to connect to the establishment’s Internet. Surprisingly, this behavior was staunchly defended by people who essentially said, “it’s fine to pay a premium for Internet access when I’m staying at five-star hotel because I get such good service…” or something similar.

    Defeatist thinking aside, it appears as if expensive hotels aren’t the only ones who enjoy sticking it to their customers who would like to surf the web from their hotel room. As pointed out by the Frequent Business Traveler, the top hotel pet peeve remains “Expensive Internet.”

    To reach this conclusion, FBT conducted a survey that had over 750 participants, as well as participant in an online discussion at FlyerTalk.com. The culled conversation had over 300 comments and close 40,000 overall views. Voluntary response biases associated with surveys aside, the findings concerning hotel pet peeves are about what you’d expect, with Internet access cost winning the day. The finding were presented in an HTML table format, of which, screenshots have been taken:

    Hotel Pet Peeves

    As you can see, aside from holding down the top spot, Internet use represents two of the top three issues travelers face, and unlike last year’s report, this survey didn’t just focus on the expensive luxury hotels. Or, as the Frequent Business Traveler article pointed out:

    Over 750 readers participated in the survey, and their top peeves – expensive Internet, inaccessible/insufficient electrical outlets, and weak/slow Internet – were all tech related. These results speak to business travelers’ priorities these days, as they try to stay mobile and work on the go.

    The question is posed about why is it so difficult for these businesses to provide reliable Internet service for their customers, preferably for prices that are reasonable, if not free*. Unfortunately, no answers or solutions are provided, meaning the best way to combat such price gouging is to let your wallet speak for you. That is, don’t order the Internet service from hotels. Go find a restaurant or Starbucks that has free WiFi instead.

    *Instead of free, hotels could, quite easily, alter the way they charge for Internet access by building these charges directly into the price of staying at the hotel. Add an additional surcharge to every bill, something along the lines of two or three dollars on each bill, which, in turn would allow every patron to access the Internet, whether they use it or not. Considering the way other hotel charges exist to assist in the upkeep of the facility, an additional surcharge to ensure quality Internet access doesn’t seem like a bad idea.

  • Expensive Hotels Suck at Providing Free Internet

    If you’re one of the millions of people who have to travel in order to conduct your career, you already know about the weird mix of expensive hotel chains that charge for right to access the Internet via their connection.

    In fact, according to a study reported on by CNN, if you want cheap and/or free Internet while staying at a hotel, you would be wise to avoid the five star offerings, and stay at cheaper hotel instead. According to the report, most of the higher end hotels charge customers a premium for Internet access, which, after paying in excess of $500 a night to stay, is pretty ridiculous. It becomes even more silly when you realize the cheaper hotels don’t go that route, instead preferring to “comp” Internet access for their customers.

    From the findings:

    Three-quarters of luxury and “upper upscale” hotel chains — segments that include brands such as Four Seasons, Hilton and Marriott — charge for in-room Internet access, according to the American Hotel & Lodging Association 2010 Lodging Survey conducted by STR Global.

    In comparison, just 2% of full-service midrange hotel chains — a segment that includes brands such as Holiday Inn — ask you to pay a fee for surfing the Web in your room, the survey found.

    Clearly, the lesson here is avoid the big time hotels if you’re a business traveler who needs to connect to the Internet while in your hotel room. This becomes even more obvious when the reason why these expensive hotels charge a premium for Internet access–because they can.

    Granted, the sheets and pillows at the four seasons are better than they are at the Holiday Inn, but is luxury the motivating factor when deciding on a hotel or is affordability? Obviously, if you’re paying for $500 a night, you can probably afford to pay for Internet access, but the question is, why would you? Especially when less expensive hotels don’t gouge customers in such a manner?

    As with most things related to supply and demand, as long as these customers willingly pay for their Internet access, these expensive hotels will continue to charge for it. If business travelers began eschewing the more expensive hotels that charge for cheaper places that don’t, it’s easy to see these charges either reducing or disappearing altogether.

    The question is, are these kinds of travelers willing to swallow their pride and stay in cheaper hotel that has free Internet access or is the allure of the local Four Seasons just that hard to overcome?