Posted by Jed Lewison on Thu Aug 2, 2007 at 9:42 AM Pacific

MLB Hates its Customers

I just wrote the following e-mail to my season ticket account representative at the Mariners. If the story I read (referenced below) is true, then I am furious. On the one hand, MLB gives local teams total control over TV. As a result, given that I live in Vegas, if I buy their Extra Innings television package, games from the following teams are usually blacked out: A's, Giants, Padres, Diamondbacks, and Angels. Why? Because those teams claim Vegas as their "home market." Bullshit. MLB should step in and tell teams to stop blocking customers from being able to buy their product.

On the flipside, MLB is now dictating to teams how they can do secondary ticket resales. Ticket sales truly is a local thing, and should be handled on a team-by-team basis. The Mariners have an outstanding secondary ticket resale mechanism. I basically set the price and up to 2 hours before a game, a fan can buy tickets from me, sometimes for less than face value, sometimes for much more. Now MLB is going to ban this system and make everybody use StubHub. Since StubHub requires fans to actually mail tickets to other fans, the cutoff before games is several days, not 2 hours. (Under the current system, tickets are e-mailed.)

Moreover, the current system allows me to forward tickets to my friends. StubHub does not support this.

For the past 12 years, I have averaged about $10,000 per year in spending with the Seattle Mariners. So what do I get for having spent $120,000? The idiotic MLB coming in and telling the Mariners how to handle ticket resales, which really should be the last damn thing the MLB is worried about.

Since I've been selling my tickets while living in Vegas, I've eked out a small profit. Eventually I'll move back to Seattle and start going to games again. But until then, this decision will cost me thousands of dollars. MLB can go to hell for all I care. They obviously hate their customers.

Here's the letter I sent to my ticket rep.:

Hi ****,

I just read an article (http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2165537,00.asp) saying that the MLB has just signed a deal with StubHub that will replace services like the Ticket Marketplace with some StubHub version.

I am sending you feedback in the hopes that you can pass it along to the powers that be – the current Ticket Marketplace, which allows for the electronic redistribution of tickets, is a really good service.

This Stubhub replacement is a HORRIBLE service since you need to physically mail tickets once you sell them. Now I can sell tickets on the day of game. With Stubhub, you need to do it several days in advance unless you are willing to meet the buyer before the game.

If this article is correct and the Mariners will be forced to stop using Ticketmaster, it is an affront to Season Ticket holders. We pay good money for our tickets, and to have the MLB corporate headquarters big foot around telling local teams how to handle tickets is really very, very bad customer service.

Currently, I can forward tickets to friends. With Stubhub, I cannot do this.

I hope the Mariners organization and others can stand up for their season ticket holders and send this plan where it belongs: to the trash.

Thanks,
Jed

MLB Hates its Customers

I just wrote the following e-mail to my season ticket account representative at the Mariners. If the story I read (referenced below) is true, then I am furious. On the one hand, MLB gives local teams total control over TV. As a result, given that I live in Vegas, if I buy their Extra Innings television package, games from the following teams are usually blacked out: A's, Giants, Padres, Diamondbacks, and Angels. Why? Because those teams claim Vegas as their "home market." Bullshit. MLB should step in and tell teams to stop blocking customers from being able to buy their product.

On the flipside, MLB is now dictating to teams how they can do secondary ticket resales. Ticket sales truly is a local thing, and should be handled on a team-by-team basis. The Mariners have an outstanding secondary ticket resale mechanism. I basically set the price and up to 2 hours before a game, a fan can buy tickets from me, sometimes for less than face value, sometimes for much more. Now MLB is going to ban this system and make everybody use StubHub. Since StubHub requires fans to actually mail tickets to other fans, the cutoff before games is several days, not 2 hours. (Under the current system, tickets are e-mailed.)

Moreover, the current system allows me to forward tickets to my friends. StubHub does not support this.

For the past 12 years, I have averaged about $10,000 per year in spending with the Seattle Mariners. So what do I get for having spent $120,000? The idiotic MLB coming in and telling the Mariners how to handle ticket resales, which really should be the last damn thing the MLB is worried about.

Since I've been selling my tickets while living in Vegas, I've eked out a small profit. Eventually I'll move back to Seattle and start going to games again. But until then, this decision will cost me thousands of dollars. MLB can go to hell for all I care. They obviously hate their customers.

Here's the letter I sent to my ticket rep.:

Hi ****,

I just read an article (http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2165537,00.asp) saying that the MLB has just signed a deal with StubHub that will replace services like the Ticket Marketplace with some StubHub version.

I am sending you feedback in the hopes that you can pass it along to the powers that be – the current Ticket Marketplace, which allows for the electronic redistribution of tickets, is a really good service.

This Stubhub replacement is a HORRIBLE service since you need to physically mail tickets once you sell them. Now I can sell tickets on the day of game. With Stubhub, you need to do it several days in advance unless you are willing to meet the buyer before the game.

If this article is correct and the Mariners will be forced to stop using Ticketmaster, it is an affront to Season Ticket holders. We pay good money for our tickets, and to have the MLB corporate headquarters big foot around telling local teams how to handle tickets is really very, very bad customer service.

Currently, I can forward tickets to friends. With Stubhub, I cannot do this.

I hope the Mariners organization and others can stand up for their season ticket holders and send this plan where it belongs: to the trash.

Thanks,
Jed

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