Tinnitus Expo -- pay on door rip off

[Rob_M]

completely forgot about this so went to order tickets to find they have all sold out then i couldn't believe what i was reading, that you could pay on the door at 20 pounds a ticket, for a ticket that's been sold for 12 pounds, so why the eight pound mark up, isn't that a little greedy. Really disappointed to see this and feel its just taking advantage of people's problems, surely going to 15 would have been better and more acceptable

i wanted to go as well as my partner to get a better understanding of what i put up with 24 hours per day there is no chance im paying 40 pounds for tickets worth 24

what a rip off

[Lindsay6]

That is indeed disappointing. BTA received a large grant from the Big Lottery , I wonder if this has all been used up ? It is also sad when we see how much is spent on research , including salaries and conferences.

[Hidden in reply to Lindsay6]

Hi Lindsay, grant money is given with very strict conditions for how and on what it is spent and is awarded based on bids for specific projects. The fund you are referencing was to run a number of regional Information Days over three years - you attended the Nottingham one. That fund has indeed came to an end now.

[Hidden]

Hi Rob,

Tickets have not all sold out, there are still tickets for the 3pm slot, these are £8 and on sale through the website.

The on the door price is to encourage people to make advance purchases for their tickets, so we know how many people we can expect on the day and plan accordingly. Once the venue is at capacity then there will be no on the door tickets so advance purchase is actually necessary if you want to guarantee entry.

The tickets have been available at both £8 and then £12 since February, giving plenty of time to book before the day of the event.

I'd also just like to point out that as a not for profit charity any money generated through ticket sales goes towards covering the costs of putting on such an event and any surplus goes right back into funding the work we do supporting people with tinnitus.

Please feel free to email me if you want to discuss any of this further - [e-mail]

[Hidden]

Had a request for a refund on 2 x 11am tickets, I'll be making them available through the website at 5pm, hopefully you'll see this and be able to book them.

[Rob_M in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Marcus i managed to get them, once again many thanks

[Ruud1boy]

Rip-off seems a bit harsh! They're a non-profit organisation, operating on an extremely small budget if you check their finances. How much do you pay for your BTA membership?

[Rob_M]

early bird 8 pounds increase to 12 increase to 20 if you're happy to pay over 100% then more power to you, As i said in the first post I would have thought on the door entry would have been reasonable at £15. As Marcus has pointed out these prices were basically set for crowd control so they know how many numbers to expect which then you have to consider the capacity numbers allowed for the event which you work out what price to charge when selling tickets with a small profit margin, so by this event being a sell out anyone good with maths will tell you what price to sell a ticket to cover costs.

So i stand by what i have said

As for my membership, i presume its the same cost as yours

best wishes

Rob

[embecmom2 in reply to Rob_M]

Most event organisers do this now, it does feel a little mean given its to do with a specific dreadful problem people have. Dont see much off the street business. Events I attend in my specific industry start at £100 and go up from there, so £20 IF its used for fund raising I dont think is that excessive.

[Keoni]

Hi Rob_M,

For fire safety reasons there is often a limit on numbers attending any sort of venue event. It makes sense, therefore, to encourage folks to book in advance so the organisers know how many to cater for. Imagine the chaos if they were expecting 200 people and 10,000 turned up at the door.

It doesn't take much effort to check websites or to get yourself on mailing lists for regular updates of events. There's usually enough notice to plan ahead. That enabled me to book my ticket as soon as I found out about the event in February.

It seems to be common practice for online ticket prices to be a little bit cheaper than on-the-day gate prices, no matter the event.

As a final point, I don't think £20 is too excessive - especially if you find the event entertaining, beneficial, or thought-provoking. Saving 1 or 2 pounds in pocket change a week would soon cover the cost.

Respectfully submitted,

Keoni