Many concert-loving fans have been recently outraged by one company: Ticketmaster. With constant freezes due to an overload of users, expensive prices and overall poor service, Ticketmaster is being smacked with lawsuits and angry customers screaming for refunds. As celebrities resume touring local venues, the process of buying concert tickets has frustrated many WCHS students.

The most recent outrage was caused when one of America’s most beloved artists, Taylor Swift, announced The Eras Tour for this spring and summer. With millions of fans trying to get tickets, Ticketmaster’s interface could not manage all of the enthusiastic fans in the queue. With both the presale and regular sale having countless anticipating fans, the site eventually crashed, disappointing all of the patiently waiting fans.

“I remember getting on the website for Taylor Swift’s concert at least 30 minutes before it opened to make sure everything was set,” WCHS junior Reagan Beardall said. “I was super frustrated when the number [in the queue] was not going down. When it finally started to move and I got in to get the tickets, it kicked me out again.”

The race to get Taylor Swift tickets was on. With anxious buyers waiting in line, the Ticketmaster website could not hold all of the activity. Fans were shocked to see a reputable and reliable website shut down during one of their biggest ticket sales. However, this is not the first time Ticketmaster has had problems with selling tickets. WCHS junior Olivia Putnam expressed that Ticketmaster has continuously disappointed her through the numerous concerts she has been to.

“I’ve encountered many different problems when buying these tickets,” Putnam said. “I have sat in the queue line for hours trying to get tickets and when I get close to the front of the queue it has kicked me out before making me restart in the back of the line.”

Ticketmaster has been consistently disappointing its customers because of how they handle tickets. When a buyer goes to checkout, Ticketmaster gives them an original price for the ticket they are purchasing. However, they also hike up the prices with service and convenience fees. These inflated prices are very upsetting to paying customers because of the price they are initially promised at the first glance of their seat. The fans face more disappointment when the prices for presale shows are significantly lower than the regular sale because of resellers.

“I think Ticketmaster has a somewhat fair way of choosing who gets early access to tickets because people sign up their email and I’m pretty sure they choose randomly to offer those people with early access to get tickets,” Beardall said. “However, when TicketMaster sells out the entire show to those with early access and leaves those who did not receive it without even having an opportunity, it is unfair.”

In addition to the prices, the way these pre-sale applicants are chosen, while supposedly random, can still be unfair to the Ticketmaster customers. The presale that Ticketmaster offers to its customers has proven to show more problems in the ticket purchasing process than what was expected. Once presale is over, there are not many open seats available for regular sale customers which makes it nearly impossible- and very expensive- to get tickets.

“I do not think Ticketmaster should be in business because they always do early access in order to get rid of bots, but it does nothing to help the issue. Additionally, any concert I have tried to get tickets for the website ends up freezing and causes so much stress,” Beardall said. “While I don’t know much about the lawsuit Ticketmaster is going through, I’m glad they are finally doing something to resolve the issue.”