How BART Rips-off Tourists When Leaving SFO

BART's extension to SFO has been popular for travelers with decent prices that's less than a shuttle van and taxi, and gets passengers from the airport to downtown SF within 30 minutes. On the weekends, I notice the trains coming from SFO packed full of visitors and their luggage when I board the train at Daly City.

BART now offers visitors an option to pre-pay for their fare and pick-up their tickets at a counter nearby the main gates at SFO in terminal "G." The voucher page is a little hidden in the BART website, but once you find it, you click on the link and can buy the voucher online from a third-party official contracted vendor of BART.

You can purchase one of three options, a round-trip BART ticket from SFO to downtown SF stations, East Bay I (stations in East Bay, but closer to SFO), and East Bay II (stations furthest from SFO station).

Once you purchase the voucher, you print it and bring it to the nearby counter at the BART gates to claim it for BART tickets. The tickets will contain cash value similar to purchasing a ticket at a vending machine.

What's so bad about it?
It sounds simple, pre-pay and you get your tickets at a customer service counter.

Uh huh. How about the cost?

Here's a great example:
The printable voucher for a round-trip ride from SFO to a downtown SF station (Civic Center, Powell, Montgomery, and Embarcadero) costs $18. There's no service fees, print-at-home charges, etc. It's just $18.

But checking BART's fare table, a ride from SFO to a downtown station costs $8.10, so a round-trip ticket would cost $16.20.

This means, BART is ripping tourists and visitors off by taking an extra $1.20 in profit for the online voucher program.

Based on the website, there is no details if the $18 voucher purchased online will give the passenger a $18 BART ticket, or a ticket valued at $16.10, but either way, if a passenger is only riding BART to and from SFO, it's a definite rip-off to purchase the voucher.

Just remember visitors, BART ticketing machines accept credit cards too, so save that $1.80!

Shen Yun Performing Arts Show in SF - Totally Misleading

Shen Yun... you've seen it literally on nearly every Muni bus, shopping mall kiosks, full page ads in newspapers, and they justify that they are a great program by selling tickets for orchestra level at $100 a pop and only being in town for just a week.

The reality is, ain't worth your money and your time.

I saw it today and I feel duped.

Why do I feel duped? When people see the ads for Shen Yun Performing Arts, it seems like the show is all about dancing and showing the cultural history of the Chinese people. It's like the greatest show spectacle around if they can dish out tons of dough on tons of bus ads, signage, promotions, and mall kiosks. Heck, they were even promoting the San Francisco show at the Great Mall in Milpitas with an aisle kiosk.

That's until I got my ticket. My folks paid for the tickets so I got one in my hand at the moment I was to enter the War Memorial Opera House, and it said: "SF Falun Buddha Study Association presents..." and I was intrigued if it was being supported by Falun Gong/Falun Dafa or maybe just some organization that has a name similar to Falun Gong.

I shrugged it off and went to my $100 seat in the orchestra section.

Then the show begins, the first few parts was interesting, showing their dances and cultural history; that was until they started force feeding the audience with politics and religion. Surely enough, the hosts of the show was talking about Falun Gong and people getting persecuted; and even simulations of people clubbing Falun Gong practitioners.

Once it hit that, it started getting awkward to be watching the show. What the hell did I spend my $100 on? Why didn't the advertising tell me that it's just a show to help promote politics and religion? Did I get the bait and switch? Was I duped? I sure was. Then the stories of prosecution and beatings kept going in other acts mixed with acts with nothing mentioning or relating to Falun Gong.

To give you something similar: Ever been in a situation that made you real uncomfortable?

I remember going to a church service for a five year anniversary of my late grandmother's passing away because my parents made me go, I felt almost immediately very uncomfortable and literally stormed out of the building almost in tears. It wasn't because I did not respect the church or its religion, I just didn't feel like I belonged there; I felt like a fool trying to say the verses out of the song book, and being pressured be indoctrinated into a religion I had no interest in. My parents was pissed, and I told them why I didn't want to be there; all I wanted to do was to pay my respects by putting flowers in my grandmother's niche in Colma. My parents respected my reasons and my wishes, and I visit my grandmother's niche every few weeks with a fresh bouquet of flowers.


What Shen Yun did was cram stuff down my throat, and making it worse, I paid them $100 to do it. They were misleading. If you brought your kids to see that show, they would be asking you why the heck are people hitting other people with batons? Is it appropriate for the young ones? No.

I wonder why the show tickets was so expensive and they only stay for a very brief period; once people finds out about being force fed the politics and religion, and being mislead through their advertising; they are long gone (with your money). Newspapers would review the first night's show and likely there would be some negative publicity, and be published the next day; but thousands of tickets was purchased before the show even came to town, and are non-refundable, and the rumor mill of the regular people telling others it ain't worth it is pointless because with such a brief time at each city, they are already on their next stop. If they did shows non-stop for a month in one location, they would barely sell any tickets after just a couple of weeks.

I've got nothing against freedom of speech and religion, but if you don't tell people what you are selling, you are just duping them and you get a lot of people pissed off. At least I know that if I am going to a funeral, some type of religion will be embraced; Shen Yun on the other hand didn't tell me they will be talking about Falun Gong and the Chinese government busting their ass on the stage; I was expecting some wonderful dancing and promotion of the Chinese heritage.

And to take it home, I sat through the whole show, even though it really felt awkward; but the six people sitting on my left, didn't come back to their seats after intermission.

Best one hundred dollars spent... fuck.

June 2011 Clipper Card Updates from MTC's Operations Committee

The Operations Committee of the MTC will be meeting today at 9:30AM to discuss about what else to spend money on.

The minutes from last month's meeting (PDF document) shows the committee asked questions about the $2 monthly fee charged to those who uses third-party benefit programs and gets their passes/e-cash directly loaded to their Clipper cards. The MTC rep at the microphone said the fee is similar to what others around the nation gets charged. The fee will last for two years and will be re-reviewed after the two years is up.

At today's meeting, Clipper will be discussed in agenda item #4 (PDF document).

Here's highlights about Clipper for the month of May & early June:

• Muni's senior pass has fully transitioned to Clipper only.
• Clipper cards used on BART accounts for 32% of all BART fare transactions. Advertising about the Clipper card at stations is given credit for the nearly 1/3rd of all ridership.
• People did not take the $2 monthly fee for direct loading of passes very lightly. When compared to the past (when the fee was not charged) and today (the fee charged), only 61% said okay to paying the fee; 39% said no thanks to the fee and found alternate ways to get around it.
• Cubic is asking the MTC to shift 50% of their customer service work to a Cubic call center in Tennessee. Since the customer service phone center is in Concord, in case if there's a major power outage or problem, the Tennessee office can take the brunt.
  
• Booz Allen Hamilton, a consulting firm for Clipper has a new parent company. It doesn't affect the MTC or Clipper that much.

Contract Actions
The Operations committee will be voting upon some contracts and change of contracts:

1. A total of $1,241,000 in contracts to three companies that handles customer education and promotion of the Clipper program, and one company that conducts inspection of equipment and budgeting.
2. $250,000 will be invested to open a third Clipper customer service center. This new customer service center will be located in Oakland and will be contracted to the AC Transit ticketing office. The new service center will include advertising and improved equipment to allow such services as replacing a defective card.

Akit's Opinion & Analysis
It's amazing to believe 32% of all BART transactions happens with a Clipper card. When you don't have to worry about demagnetizing tickets and not forgetting to take a paper transfer before leaving the station, that's a big plus.

I'm still not pleased with the $2 fee for adding passes and other fare media directly to Clipper cards. A process that's so easy shouldn't come with a cost; but the alternate options with no fee can be a hassle: debit cards and vouchers costs money to produce and mail, and takes time out of peoples' day to obtain their next fare media. Clipper, MTC, and the commuter benefit agencies shouldn't wait two years, talk NOW. If 39% of people backed out, that's a serious sign the idea is FAILING.

Hard facts to swallow: The MTC says that in February 2011 "about 20,000 Clipper customers were taking advantage of the automated add value services through third party transit benefit programs..." Since 39% of people rejected the $2 hike, this computes to 7,800 people saying "up yours" to paying the fee.

If Cubic wants to shift 50% of the customer service phone calls to another state, doesn't that just mean layoffs here in the Bay Area?

It's good there will be a third in-person customer service center, and it will be the first for the East Bay. In all honesty, there should be Clipper customer service centers at all transit agency main offices or major transit hubs so it covers each county.

Lastly, why not join ("Like") the new Akit's Complaint Department fan page on Facebook? Click here and join in the fun!

MTC and Clipper Keeps Quiet About $2 Monthly Fee for Commuter Benefit Users

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission has been an advocate for Clipper card users to end the annoying $2 monthly fee for commuter benefit users who requests for direct monthly loading of passes, e-cash, and ridebooks (not vouchers and debit cards).

This $2 has been going on for many months with no news, but the MTC and Clipper folks have very quietly posted an update on April 11th about the situation.

Since the MTC and Clipper wants to be sneaky and not grab the attention of the public and mass media, I'm going to bang on the pots and pans to tell you what's going on.

The $2 monthly fee was imposed by Clipper (not MTC) to all commuter benefit companies if customers requested to the benefit company to have their pass, e-cash, or ridebooks loaded directly to their card, thereby there is no need for a plastic debit card or paper vouchers. It was up to the benefit companies if they wanted to absorb the costs or pass on the $2 to the customers.

The MTC (via Clipper's website) has quietly informed the public of an update, the policy WON'T CHANGE. That's right, the fee will still exist; this means, for some people, you may have an automatic $2 fee imposed against your commuter benefit account.

The alternatives to not being charged the fee is simple: Request a paper voucher that is valid at many in-person Clipper add value locations, or request a special debit card which is good at all Clipper automated machines, transit agency ticketing offices, ClipperCard.com, and Clipper's customer service centers at Embarcadero BART/Muni station and Bay Crossings at the Ferry Building.

For those who uses Clipper's own commuter benefits program, known as "Clipper Direct," they will not impose the $2 monthly fee.

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Akit's Opinion:

I thought the MTC was on our side (the card users) to kill off this incredibly stupid monthly fee. The most convenient way to have passes, e-cash, and ridebooks loaded to our Clipper card accounts from commuter benefit agencies, is now the most annoying way to do it because it now costs us $24 a year.

Okay, fine, we'll use the paper vouchers and debit cards to get around it (for free)... but that's not eco friendly. Paper vouchers costs money to produce by killing trees, and the labor it takes to cut the checks, stuff them, and pay for postage to mail it to customers. Debit cards are a little more eco friendly as they only send one card that's good for many years, but it's just another piece of plastic to carry around.

How low can the MTC go? Makes me sick.

An Extra $24.50 in Four Days on Nine Giants Ballgames I Want - Dynamic Pricing is Evil

I'm really frustrated with the SF Giants and their dynamic ticketing system. I did a comparison of the pricing lists I printed from January 31st and today, February 3rd.

Just last night, I used the January 31st list to pick nine single games I can attend that was a good balance of cost and still get to see the bitter rivalry against the Dodgers. Using the pricing sheets, I compared just how much the prices have changed, and it's drastic.

I'm going to list the 9 games I picked by telling your the price listed on January 31st and February 3rd, and the cost difference:

1. $18.25, $18.50; +$0.50
   
2. $27.00, $31.75; +$4.75
   
3. $16.00, $18.50; +$2.50
   
4. $20.00, $20.00; zero
   
5. $38.00, $45.50; +$7.50
   
6. $27.00, $31.25; +$4.25
   
7. $23.00, $23.50; +$0.50
   
8. $27.00, $31.25; +$4.25
   
9. $18.00, $18.25; +$0.25

• In a matter of a few days, the extra money I have to pay to buy tickets is: $24.50.
• Another way to look at this, the January 31st total: $214.25, February 3rd total: $238.75; a 10.26% INCREASE.

There's a lot of problems with this cost increase punching a hole out of my wallet:

1. The dynamic pricing system truly works when the Giants knows who is pitching, the weather, popularity of the opposing team, how the Giants rank in ERA, National League, and other numerical factors, and some others. But here's the problem, the season hasn't even started for the Giants and they have already jacked-up the price. We don't know who is going to pitch in the sixth regular home game, or what place the Giants will be in the standings.
   
2. The new price list I retrieved was updated today, prior to the start of the pre-sale of tickets for people with Visa cards. What factors caused the Giants to raise the price of tickets when the regular season hasn't even started? Did Brian Wilson's visit to the George Lopez show jack-up the need to see him pitch? Or is it the gimp (a.k.a. "The Machine)?
3. Nearly all of the games I chose went up in price, except for just one.
4. The dynamic pricing list shows a lot of opportunities to just pay a few quarters more and you can get a better seat in the View Box level versus paying for View Reserved Infield.

I'm wondering how much more I'm going to have to pay before tickets go on sale starting February 5th at 9AM. For those who wants to beat the surcharges by buying in person, you'd better review the pricing list before lining up this Saturday for tickets at the ballpark.

What's next, raise the price of garlic fries on the "dynamic fries" system? How about raising the price of a cup of beer when the weather is hot?

What will it take for the Giants to kill dynamic pricing?

Buying Giants 2011 Tickets - World Series Title a Curse on Ticket Prices?

UPDATE: I compared the price list I printed on 1/31 to today (2/3) and the games I chose to purchase tickets all went up in price, AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC DIDN'T EVEN GET A SHOT AT PURCHASING UNTIL SATURDAY AT 9AM! This is highway robbery. Read more from a more recent post.

(Original Post)
I've been a San Francisco Giants fan all my life as I've been living in one of the most gorgeous cities in the world my entire life. As a fan, I carry a fun collection of items, from orange Giants logo neckties, a hat with tons of pins I've collected throughout the years, Giants jacket and jersey, and so many more great items and photos I've taken.

I'm proud our team won the World Series title in 2010 and our city will be cherishing it forever, but I feel there's a big curse placed on all of us for earning the title of "champions."

That curse, overpriced 2011 Giants tickets.


History about Giants Ticket Pricing
In 2010, the San Francisco Giants imposed the "Dynamic Pricing" ticketing system on all seats where tickets was based on an algorithm (for you non math folks, a demand system) where ticket prices would vary every day and would go up or down based on factors like opposing team, day or night, weekday or weekend, pitcher, giveaway, winning streak, and other factors. The dynamic pricing system gave the power to the SF Giants to change the pricing of tickets at any moment.

Prior to 2010, Giants tickets was always sold on a rigid pricing schedule. At least a few years ago, all single game tickets cost the same, regardless if it was a rival team or one that was easy to defeat. In 2009, the Giants decided to experiment with a modified version of dynamic pricing by charging fans a slightly higher price for tickets for "feature games" and "premium games." Those teams that are doing well or was the big bad rivals of the Giants (e.g. Dodgers). Interestingly, the Giants still have their 2009 pricing list online.

In my opinion, the dynamic pricing schedule is more of a way to rake in more money while the rigid pricing schedule made it easy for us fans to know how much we can spend in our own personal budgets. Based on the 2010 tickets I purchased, I noticed all the ticket prices go up from just a few dollars to double the cost of what I purchased. I was smart to buy my tickets early to get the best deal, but others who buy spontaneously gets penalized with much higher ticket prices for the same section I'd be sitting in.

But now that our team is the world champions, the fame and glory comes at a heavy price to us, the fans. Just today, the Giants allowed fans with Visa cards to purchase tickets two days prior to the sale of single game tickets to the general public. Due to dynamic pricing, some ticket prices have jumped to drastic levels, even for games against our rivals, the LA Dodgers.

Here's a comparison of ticket prices for Giants vs. Dodgers home games:

• 2011 dynamic pricing for View Reserved Infield: From $31.25 to $45.50 (as of 2/3/11). Average ticket price is $35.94 (using the mean average).
  
• 2009 "premium game" pricing for same section: $32.00 for all SF/LA games.

Would you pay $45 to see the Dodgers? Hell no. I wished the Giants disbanded this awful dynamic pricing system and just set-up the old fashioned rigid schedule so everyone can get a fair shot at buying tickets. Baseball tickets is not an airplane flight where the person next to you paid $20 less and the one in front of you paid an extra $30.

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Here's some pro tips to good ticket prices:

• Stubhub is the legal scalping marketplace, but you will pay a surcharge. Many season ticketholders want to sell their tickets to games they can't make it to, so you benefit with lower prices and extra perks like parking included.
  
• Buying at AT&T Park waives all surcharges, except if you use the automated machines at the park, you'll pay a one time 50 cent fee regardless if you buy one or 50 tickets.
• Costco is still selling the Giants ticket vouchers. $62 for two view reserved infield tickets to any game (except opening day and night), and includes $20 for day-of-game food and souvenir purchasing ($10 per ticket). If you can find a game valued at more than $21 per ticket for the same section, you save money. If you can find a game valued at $31 or more, the day-of-game food/gift benefit is literally free.
  

Comparing SF Giants Dynamic Pricing and StubHub - Many can Save a Lot of Money

If you buy San Francisco Giants baseball tickets directly from the Giants, you may be paying more than what you bargained for. I've previously argued the new dynamic pricing system is flawed, and while the Giants has made an effort to keep their prices up-t0-date, it's highly likely you could get better prices and better seats by doing some research.

There are three types of Giants ticket buyers:

1. Season ticket fans always get the best prices because they agree to buy a ticket to every home game and usually comes with the right to buy postseason tickets. Depending on where you want to sit, the per ticket price is typically lower or the same as the price for single tickets. See ticket pricing and map.
2. Pre-season and early ticket buyers: Since the SF Giants now uses the dynamic pricing system to sell their tickets, once the ticket prices are released, it's generally the best time to buy single game tickets. In many cases, its likely the ticket prices will be raised as time progresses to game day. Review dynamic pricing list.
   
3. "Fair weather fans:" If you are the type that decides to buy last minute or decide it's a beautiful day to attend a game, you are going to pay the highest ticket prices for a baseball game when buying direct from the SF Giants. If you were to purchase a ticket for this Saturday's game against the Diamondbacks, you will currently pay $34.00 for a view reserved infield seat. The starting price was $13.50, and the dynamic pricing system slowly raised it to $17 just a few weeks ago.

This blog entry is to help all you "fair weather fans" get a better deal in buying Giants tickets without screwing around with the rip-off dynamic pricing system.

So... what's my answer? Ticket scalping.

No, I'm not going to tell you to see one of those ticket scalpers across the street from the ballpark because people could sell their tickets to the scalper, but the ticket could be a fraud or voided thanks to the new barcode system on every ticket that allows a ticket holder to sell their tickets or transfer them to a friend electronically.

As some of you may know, Major League Baseball has allowed StubHub to be the official online marketplace for baseball ticket holders to sell their tickets, and for fans to buy seats at a steep discount. It's a popular choice for season ticket holders because if they can't make it to certain games, they can attempt to sell their ticket and make money off of it.

How can a "fair weather fan" score a great deal?

• One big advantage of StubHub over buying tickets directly from the Giants is you can choose what specific section you want to sit in. It will also tell you the row and seat numbers too. Some ticket sellers also gives a description of the location, such as "behind home plate" or "near Kville."
• Using your web browser's tab features, open a new tab for StubHub for the SF Giants, and a new tab for the Giants dynamic pricing page. (PC users: hold control and click; Mac users, hold the Apple key and click). Pick a game you are interested in with StubHub and start comparing tickets.
• When comparing tickets, I recommend selecting a seating zone you may be interested in sitting in (e.g. left field bleachers, lower box, etc.). Based on what you select, compare the prices between the dynamic pricing list and what the ticket sellers are offering. In many cases, you will find tickets that costs LESS than what the SF Giants will sell to you, especially in the case if you are buying with less than week before the ballgame.
• Lastly, when comparing tickets, don't forget to take into account the surcharges. StubHub will always charge a surcharge of about $4.95. If you buy direct from the Giants, either online or an official retail outlet such as a Dugout Store, you will pay about a 17% surcharge; you can get a ticket surcharge free by going to a ticket window at AT&T Park, the advance ticket window inside the park, or the Giants Dugout Store at AT&T Park. Remember, the dynamic pricing list changes frequently.
  

Let's try one, shall we? Here's the criteria:

1. I want to buy a view reserved infield ticket to this Friday's game against the Diamondbacks (May 28th).
2. The SF Giants dynamic pricing page tells me a ticket will cost me $22 each (not including surcharges). If I were to purchase online, one ticket with surcharges will cost me $25.75 (with free will call option).
   
3. StubHub sellers are selling their view infield reserved tickets starting at $10 each. The e-ticket surcharge is $4.95 for a total of $14.95 a ticket. If I purchased two or more tickets, the e-ticket surcharge is a would not multiply by how many tickets I ordered, it's just one flat price. Two tickets would be a total of $24.95.

In the end, StubHub's ticket sellers can sell me two tickets for less than the price of one! If I went surcharge-free by visiting AT&T Park today and only bought one ticket, just an extra $2.20 would get me an extra ticket for the same ticketing zone.

A little bit of digging around can help you save lots of money. Now go spend the money you saved on some garlic fries and I'll see you at the game!

Update: Akit's Efforts Pays Off with Upgraded SF Giants Dynamic Pricing List

If you recall a week ago, I mentioned on my blog that the SF Giants sells tickets on a dynamic pricing structure that sets ticket prices depending on many variables including giveaways, who is pitching, and how the team is doing. My primary argument is the pricing list they provided on their official website did not reflect actual ticket costs listed on their official ticket broker, Tickets.com.

I have been monitoring the dynamic pricing page ever since I posted my blog entry and there have been some changes to their website. The new dynamic pricing page is now current (prices on list reflect actual prices sold by Tickets.com), but also enhanced to remove the long list (every game posted) and now can be shown in smaller batches by month and by team opponent. Also, by moving your mouse cursor over the game, it will change color and make it easier to identify what section you may be interested in sitting in.

This is a good improvement, SF Giants management. Akit's Complaint Department is proud to help make policy changes.

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Just a run down memory lane... remember when the SF Giants management banned fans to walk on the bleacher/arcade section's promenade unless if the ticket holder was seated in the bleachers or arcade areas? After my blog entry, they removed their incredibly stupid policy; now, I can get my "Crazy Crab" sandwich! Yum!

SF Giants Dynamic Ticketing System Could be Ripping You Off

The San Francisco Giants is the first Major League Baseball team to sell all their tickets through "dynamic pricing" where tickets are sold at market value and varies on a number of factors:

• The popularity of the team. Dodgers games always costs more.
• Who will be pitching at the games.
• How the Giants are doing. Winning streak or getting a major ass kicking?
• Giveaways such as bobbleheads and tote bags.
  

The ticket pricing structure is similar to airlines that raise and lower prices depending on factors like the travel season (major holidays, events, etc.), and popularity.

From my understanding, the Giants are doing this so they can fill-up the stadium. Very popular games and giveaways will always bring in the fans, no matter how high the price will be. For very unpopular games or situations where the Giants are not doing so great, they will lower prices to reflect it so they can fill-up the stadium for bargain seekers.

The old way they used to do it is the prices never changed regardless of whatever team was visiting. Just a year ago, they changed the structure to a program where the most affordable seats was during weekday games, second most expensive was Friday-Sunday, and they also had "premium" games for those popular visiting teams visiting AT&T Park regardless of what day the games were held.

I find the dynamic pricing structure to have some serious problems. (Crazy Crab would be pissed) The dynamic pricing master list is posted on the SF Giants website and reflects pricing for all games this season, including ones that have already concluded. I would assume many of you would believe this is the official market pricing for games, if I were to buy a ticket immediately through their ticketing contractor, Tickets.com.

Actually... that is the big problem. The dynamic pricing list doesn't reflect the actual prices offered by Tickets.com. When you click on the "T" square on the far left, the prices don't match up for games for about the next 30 days.

• Example: I want to get a ticket for the view reserved infield section on May 29th. The dynamic pricing list shows a ticket will cost me $13.00 (face value). But, when I click on the "T" symbol, the ticketing website tells me the area costs $15.50 per ticket, an increase of $2.50 per ticket.

Nearly all the games I've checked-out for the next 30 days shows a similar pattern. The dynamic pricing list shows a lower ticket cost, but Tickets.com continues to sell the Giants tickets at a higher face value cost.

I've written to the SF Giants about this problem and they said "the price list is the base price at the beginning of the season." I argued that is not true. They have changed prices on a frequent basis on the dynamic pricing page and it has been properly reflected on the Tickets.com website, until now. The example I provided is I purchased a ticket to an exhibition game against the Oakland A's at AT&T Park and paid $3.50 per ticket (face value) and the price was the same as the dynamic pricing list I printed out earlier that day. When the game approached, the dynamic pricing list was updated and reflected the new price, $5 a ticket. Basically, their representative who replied back to me basically said something that is not true.

It leaves fans confused about how the system works. Who is maintaining the accurate market rate prices on the tickets? Should we trust the dynamic pricing list to tell its fans what the actual prices are, or should we trust it in the ticketing processor, Tickets.com? Fair weather fans may just decide to abandon buying tickets from the Giants (via Tickets.com) because they would refuse to pay a higher price for a ticket when the dynamic pricing list mentions a lower price.

It would be in the best interest of the SF Giants to simply continue to update the dynamic pricing list while Tickets.com has the same exact prices reflected.

I find that people depend on that pricing list to see if the tickets they previously purchased has gone up or down, but also for those who want to buy tickets to rely on that list when purchasing, whether it be online or in-person. Also, the list is useful for those people selling their extra tickets on Stubhub; if they want to sell their ticket with a minimum financial loss, they'd view the dynamic pricing list and sell the ticket at a lower cost than what the Giants are offering. But if it's for a popular game and they want to sell it quick while making extra money, the list is also helpful to see how much the Giants are charging.

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Here's my e-mail conversation with the Giants:

Initial question:
I want to make you aware that while your dynamic pricing list shows the pricing of seats in all the sections, I was looking at a few games for the next month (including 5/29) and while upper deck reserved infield on dynamic pricing says $13.00, clicking to order the tickets online says the price is $15.50. Other games reflect a difference around $1 to as much as $2.50 difference between the dynamic page and online ordering via Tickets.com.

SF Giants Response:
Thank you for contacting us. Yes, we are aware of the current price changes from the pricing list. Although some prices change, some stay the same. Keep in mind that prices change as we sell tickets for those events in advance. The price list is the base price at the beginning of the season.

Regards,
Ticket Services SF Giants

My reply:
Thanks for the e-mail, but I need to inform you that people will always believe the dynamic pricing webpage maintained on the Giants website is the true prices, and will reflect it when purchasing it online or through an official ticket office (e.g. Giants Dugout stores).

Here's a perfect example:
Once the dynamic pricing list was released to the public, I purchased a ticket to the first two pre-season games against the Oakland A's. The price I paid for at the Giants Dugout at AT&T Park was $3.50 each (no surcharge) and the same price was reflected on the dynamic pricing page. But, when the game day was approaching, the price on the dynamic website was raised to $5.00 a seat and was also reflected on the ticket purchasing as well. In this example, there is no grounds to your claim that the "price list is the base price at the beginning of the season" as your list has been shown to change on a near daily basis on the dynamic pricing list.

The fans depend on your dynamic pricing list to see if it's a good time to buy a ticket; and that price should be immediately reflected if they buy it immediately online or buy it in-person at a tickets.com outlet with a list very recently printed from their computer.

Tell the SFMTA Muni board to Shove It on Tuesday

Tomorrow (Tuesday, January 19th) at 2PM in City Hall room 400 will be the SFMTA Board of Directors meeting, and things will not be very happy...

Two very special items will either be discussed or be mentioned during public comment:

1. Muni's budget is allegedly bleeding so badly that more cuts and changes in policies would be necessary; and it could come as soon as May.
2. SFMTA Board will decide if they want to renew SFMTA Chief Nathaniel Ford's contract for another four years. This is brand new news straight from the "City Insider" of the SFgate.

These two items are going to cause some major problems. The public is already angry at Muni for the pass hikes, service cuts, and fare hikes. Also, nobody likes Nathaniel Ford for having such an enormous salary and turning our transit agency into the worst piece of trash in the country.

The SFMTA Board represents the people of the City and County of San Francisco, DO YOUR JOB AND FIRE NAT FORD IMMEDIATELY.

If you are pissed-off at everything about SFMTA/Muni, tell them!

• Go to the meeting tomorrow and note your planned attendance on this Facebook page.
  
• If you can't attend, get contact information here: http://tinyurl.com/SCREWmuni
• Sign an online petition to show your anger.
  

iPod Touch 3.1 at a Cheaper Price? How 3.0 Users got Ripped-Off

If you own an iPod touch (the non-cell phone brother of the iPhone), you know that Apple has been telling you to upgrade your software to the 3.0 and 3.1 versions in order to promote new features, such as copy and paste.

But what I don't understand is, why did I pay $9.99 for the 3.0 version upgrade and get the 3.1 upgrade version free...

while other people who are still using 2.0 or bought a new iPod Touch with 3.0 pre-installed are now being told that they can get the 3.1 version for $4.95?

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That doesn't seem fair. While I appreciate Apple for giving me a free 3.1 upgrade for buying 3.0, I feel I've been financially ripped-off for this iPod software upgrade/update. 3.0 was on the market for a mere three months until 3.1 was released at a lower price.

I hope Apple decides to give an appropriate refund to people who paid the higher price, or give us future software upgrades at no cost to us.

AT&T Park (SF Giants) - America's Ripoff Joint

I love AT&T Park (aka: Pacific Bell Park, Pac Bell Park, SBC Park, and Telephone Park) because it is a beautiful stadium to watch games. Even sitting at the upper deck gets you great views of the park, the views of the water and East Bay, and doesn't require you to use binoculars to view the game.

But have you noticed that we are getting really ripped off? Like real badly...

Here's a list of things I think is terrible about the ballpark:

• Outrageous prices on tickets. They offer three levels of prices:
• Cheapest tickets are for games on Monday-Thursday.
• "Weekend" tickets are for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday games.
• "Premium" games are always against the Dodgers, New York teams, and some A's games.
• Then, the tickets for certain sections go for outrageous prices. Want the crappiest seats in the park? Go for the centerfield bleachers. Worst upper deck seats are the last five sections in left field. They sell for cheap, but who the hell can watch a game in those seats?
• The best seats, therefore the most expensive seats are in the "Lexus" dugout seats, equipped with padded seats, and you are so close to the home plate.
• Just how much for face value? It cost me about $125. This does not include any additional fees.
• The best seats for A's tickets is no more than $90. The cheapest seats for the A's is just $9! Come on AT&T Park.
  
• And how about those ticket fees? They try to nickel and dime you for every time you buy a ticket. If you purchase at a Giants Dougout location (except the ballpark location) or any tickets.com outlet, you get charged a 17% FEE. What the hell is this?
• The best time to buy tickets is when you visit the Dugout store at the ballpark or the advance ticket window. They have a much lower service fee.
• Here's an interesting fact, San Francisco Muni wanted to get a little more money to provide service to the ballpark. They wanted to propose an additional tax on game ticket fees. Hell no.
• To add insult to injury, Muni DOES NOT ACCEPT BART-TO-MUNI transfers when purchasing your ticket to return from the ballpark to BART. What little bitches! I get a 25 cent discount, and I WANT IT!
• And how about the food?
• These guys rip you off so badly. I can easily spend $25 at a ballpark for a half-assed meal. For that money, I can go across the street at Amici's and get myself a large New England Clam Pizza with a soda and possibly some pesto pasta!
• Why half-assed food? Here's something. I ordered a clam chowder in a bread bowl, and while the soup was OK, the damn bread was STALE! So dry, that the bread bowl soaked in soup was dry enough to make me cough for five minutes.
• And to add insult to injury...
• The Giants have now BANNED ALL OPEN BEVERAGES from entering the park, including bottles that have their seal broken.
• Their reply is that this is to prevent underage drinking.
• My answer: It is just another way to rip us off by making us fans purchase beverages that cost nearly three times its regular price at grocery stores and other places.
• Plus, I can't bring in my iced coffee drink from McDonald's

If the Giants wants to stop ripping us off with these outrageous prices, it's time for some changes.

1. Barry Bonds is gone, he was the star attraction, and now you are selling games with about 9,000 seats still available (this happened at last Friday's game). Also, the team is doing terrible. Reduce prices on admission tickets. Eliminate the SRO (standing room only) and use those prices to offer the hardest seats to sell (upper deck left field).
   
2. Lower food prices. It should not cost $4.00 for a Churro (Costco is only $1), and no little hot dog costs $4.50.
3. Cut back on some of these bogus "park safety" rules. Open bottles are OK, as long as it is not beer or liquor. Why not have the staff sniff the liquid? Alcohol has an obvious smell.
4. If you love watching them on TV, write to KNTV (aka NBC 11, the second worst local TV station in San Francisco) and tell them to give it back to KTVU, the ULTIMATE KING OF BASEBALL AND NEWS.
5. It is time to follow other major league parks and offer ALL YOU CAN EAT plans. Our neighbors, the Oakland A's have nosebleed top deck seats with all you can eat food and drink, like hot dogs, nachos, peanuts, popcorn, sodas, and ice cream. All for the starting price of $35 a ticket. AT&T Park management should use the upper deck left field seats (crappiest in park), and use them for all you can eat plans for a fair price. You'll get a great attendance boost, and with a good choice of food, will be extremely popular.

Well, there's my thoughts. Thanks for reading. If you have any comments on this, please post them on my blog site at: http://www.akit.org/2008/05/at-park-sf-giants-americas-ripoff-joint.html

Misleading Costco Coupon - 20th Century Fox DVDs

Looking at this coupon on the left, what does this tell you?

This Costco coupon looks to me like I can purchase ANY 20th Century Fox DVD, as long as the program on the DVD has been on television.


WRONG!
Scroll down to read why...















Keep going...









The Costco coupon is actually misleading. There are three item code numbers, but there are four DVDs displayed, meaning that these codes can't really apply to the four displayed DVDs, and also supports that it is legit to any 20th Century Fox DVD.

Actually, it only qualifies to the DVDs that matches the three item code numbers on the Costco price sticker. But since the coupon has three DVD titles, are they they eligible? I don't know.

Nevertheless, I wasn't happy when the guy at the register rejected this, and I also spoke to the manager that this coupon is misleading. I drove over ten miles to that location to purchase something that the coupon is rejected? I wanted to buy the Family Guy "Blue Harvest" Star Wars spoof, but I went home with nothing.

COSTCO SHOULD HAVE:

• Listed all ELIGIBLE DVDs ON THE COUPON.
• Clearly mark that the items are only legit to the codes on the coupon and item.
• Should have put their advertising price sign on the eligible items. Not all items at the El Camino Costco had their price with the coupon discount displayed. I noticed this when an eligible coupon for this week didn't show-up on the product's display.
  

I wonder how many other unhappy customers walked in and realized that their favorite 20th Century Fox DVDs like the Simpson's and Family Guy was going to be turned away at the register with a coupon that didn't tell the whole truth about their advertising?

I was almost ready to demand my membership fees back from Costco that day.

Anyone got an opinion about the interpretation of the coupon? Just post a comment!

FedEx Kinkos - RIPOFF Prices & Poor Customer Service

Let's put another store on my blacklist. Today's addition is FedEx Kinko's located on 25 Stanyan Street in San Francisco.

Today, I went down to that FedEx Kinko's location so that I can get a couple of signs laminated for an event coming up. Since I knew Kinko's had a bad reputation for higher prices than their competitors, I had no choice but to visit them. I went down to Office Depot to take care of a majority of my laminates that were 8 1/2 X 11 inches (like a buck a page) , but the 8 1/2 X 22 documents I had was too big for Office Depot to do, so Kinko's was the only choice.

When I went in, I was waiting for like five minutes while a dumb lady trying to get her FedEx stuff put it in the wrong envelope and had to refill out forms and use another envelope. Another guy named "Ronnie D." (says it on my receipt) came up to me and asked of what I needed. I explained I needed these two 8 1/2 X 22 inch documents laminated.

Behind the counter was a large laminating machine and he laminated both of them. I noticed that he used an enormous waste of laminate when I noticed that the entire laminate was like a yardstick and a half on both length and width. He then had to cut it up, but he had to use the cutting blade device that was for the public's use. After chopping up the oversized laminate and throwing away the excess waste, he started joking with his fellow co-worker (which got me a little more steamed).

At the register, "Ronnie D." had some difficulty ringing up the price of the two laminates. After finding out the price, he charged me $37.00. I immediately turned from mildly upset to full on pissed. I asked him to breakdown the charges for me. He said to me that my laminates used 7 square feet of laminate, and that was $5 per square foot (plus tax is $37).

I said to him, that this is not right. My two laminates are both 8 1/2 X 22 inches, and the maximum use of square footage should only be four square ft. HE WAS TRYING TO CHARGE ME FOR THE EXCESS LAMINATE WASTE!

I told him that the FedEx Kinko's at Lakeshore Plaza in San Francisco doesn't even rip me off this badly. He reduced the price down to four square feet for $20, and I knew in my mind that it was still a rip-off price.

After paying for my charges, I walked-out and said out loud "this place is going on my blacklist."

Sure, I hate Officemax's copy center, but they would only charge me TWO DOLLARS, yes TWO DOLLARS per square foot of laminate. So my total for doing the two small banners there would be a whopping FOUR DOLLARS.

THANKS FOR THE 16 DOLLAR RIP-OFF, FEDEX KINKO'S on Stanyan.

Let's summarize my rants:
I've already lodged a complaint to FedEx Kinko's main customer support line, and I hope the manager calls me back within 48 hours.
I aint' happy.
Why do laminates cost like five times as much than Office Depot, and Officemax?
Fine, if they were to charge me $37 for the excess laiminate waste, I would say: HEY, WHY NOT GO DIG IN THE TRASH CAN AND GIVE ME THE EXCESS LAMINATE WASTE I'M ABOUT TO PAY FOR!