Oct 14, 2007 11:46 AM
(KPTM) - Fans of Hannah Montana in the metro this month who couldn't get their hands on tickets to the show will probably want to hear about what Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon has done.Nixon's office says it received complaints from fans who tried to buy tickets to Hannah Montana shows heading to St. Louis and Kansas City this year. The fans say that when they tried to buy tickets online or over the phone at the moment they went on sale, the shows were already sold out.
Fans in Omaha were left out in the cold when tickets sold out in less than thirty minutes. Five days later, tickets were selling for nearly $1,000.
Last week, Attorney General Nixon announced that the State of Missouri filed lawsuits against three independent ticket brokers after investigators paid as much as $305 for tickets with a face value of $26 for a December show in Kansas City.
Attorney General Nixon says the defendents' website continue to advertise and sell tickets for up to $2,135.
A Google search of "Hannah Montana Omaha" found tickets for the October 23rd Hannah Montana concert selling for more than $1,000. Tickets Now, one of the companies being sued by the State of Missouri, is selling tickets for as high as $637. Stub Hub is selling tickets for the Omaha show as high as $3000.
After his investigation, Nixon reached an agreement with Ticketmaster to sell an additional 2,000 tickets under a fair system.
Nixon says his goal is to ensure that there would be some tickets available for purchase by fans and their parents at the prices set by the performer. "We wanted to make sure that a lot of frustrated moms and dads, with their disappointed kids, had the opportunity to purchase tickets to these concerts at face value," Nixon said. "This agreement allows us to do so, and we are pleased at the cooperation we received from Ticketmaster in reaching this accord."
The problem isn't just surfacing in Omaha and Kansas City. On discussion boards across the country, angry fans and mothers are finding that within 3-5 minutes of tickets going on sale, they are already sold out.
"...first paying to join the fan club and have zero tickets available there in the first 5 minutes and now today, Sat. 9/15 at noon- exactly noon- refreshing the page to the second- there were ZERO tickets. I have some very, very, very disappointed daughters. They watched me try to get the tickets. What a sad lesson learned."
Disgruntled fans have even started an online petition against Ticketmaster.
