WWE fans wrestle with ‘shock’ service charges
WRESTLING fans have expressed their shock at a service charge they were required to pay when buying tickets for the much-anticipated Clash at the Castle set to take place at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.
Fans have posted screenshots on social media showing that some have been charged a £50 service charge per ticket.
The WWE event is set to be held at the Principality Stadium on September 3 and will be the first major wrestling stadium event to be held in the UK in more than 30 years, since SummerSlam ’92 at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Exclusive pre-sale tickets for the event have already been released, with some “exclusive VIP hospitality packages” that will set fans back more than £4,000 while other tickets are less than £100. More tickets are being made available to the public from today.
But some of those who have already got their hands on tickets have hit out at a service charge they have had to pay when booking tickets through Ticketmaster.
A 41-year-old wrestling fan said he bought four tickets in a pre-sale on Wednesday, with a cumulative service charge of over £125.
Speaking to the Echo, the fan – who did not want to be named – said that he was charged a £31.25 service charge per ticket, having expected to pay “around £10.”
“Normally when you buy a ticket that would include the service charge, the price you see is the price you pay,” the fan said.
He added: “It wasn’t until after I had the email confirmation that I recognised the breakdown,” which included the ticket prices, handling fee, and service charge separately.
When he received his confirmation email, the fan said he saw that he had been charged £250 per ticket, with a £31.25 service charge per ticket and a £2.75 handling fee.
While the four tickets came to a total of £1,000, the service charge made up an additional £125.
“I wasn’t shocked [by the ticket prices],” the fan added.
“I thought they were fairly reasonable for the context of the event. I was surprised with the hospitality offering but it’s in line with boxing.
“I do feel for families taking children because it’s a lot of money.”
The fan said he appreciated that Ticketmaster would need to apply a service charge, but was surprised at how much it had come to, saying: “I feel a little bit hard done by because I feel it is an unreasonable amount.”
He added: “I appreciate that they’ll have back office things to cover but we are talking about an event for 75,000 people.”
There is a service charge of 12.5% on all standard tickets for the event. A £37.50 charge would only have been applied to a £300 standard ticket, and a £50 fee to a £416 priced ticket.
Other fans who had booked tickets to the much-anticipated event expressed their surprise on Twitter.
A ticket buyer posted a screenshot of their transaction to social media, showing that they had been charged a £37.50 service charge for three tickets, amounting to a total of £112.50 on top of paying £900 for the three tickets.
Tagging the WWE and Ticketmaster UK, the Twitter user @manningthemoon wrote: “What’s the service charge on each ticket for? One charge would be more than enough there are cheaper tickets and they do come with binoculars I know but still.”
Another Twitter user, @TudorKat, who also published a screenshot of their transaction to social media, wrote: “Nice to see @wwe keeping their UK event affordable for families and fans on low incomes. £400 for a bog standard Lower Tier seat with a restricted view (behind stage) plus £100 processing plus ticketmaster costs. £902.27 for two tickets. Absurd!”
The screenshot showed that, while two tickets had cost £800, they were charged a £100 service charge for both tickets, along with a £2.75 handling fee.
Another Twitter user @BCx11_ wrote: “£50 service charge for the WWE show in the UK. That’s a disgrace.”
Ticketmaster has been contacted for comment.