So, I bought some concert tickets this weekend. This is always a rewarding experience. As you know, all Ticketmaster on-sales happen on Saturday mornings at 10:00 am. So, I had to get up at 9:30 am to go downstairs to the computer. Perhaps you don't understand, 9:30 am is not when I wake up on weekends - not ever. So, I roll downstairs at the crack of dawn for my Smashing Pumpkins tickets. Knowing that their business model is retarded deeply deeply mis-managed*, I was prepared with a computer, a land line, and my cell phone.

I got through and got my tickets. Two tickets at $50 a piece. Total - $145. Now, I wasn't offended by this because I know the Ticketmaster mark up. It is why I see one concert a year now instead of ten like I used to. Here is what hurts; that the $45 is called a 'convenience charge'. There was nothing convenient about my experience. The good news, though, is that I am the kind of guy who comes with solutions instead of problems.

This is my solution, every three months a model shows up at my door. She is topless and has a bottle on wine in one hand and an upcoming concert roster in the other. She hands me the wine and the list. She then proceeds to vacuum the family room. I choose a couple of concerts. She thanks me and sends me the tickets with an invoice two weeks later. Sexist? A tad, but worth every penny. That, my friend, is what I would like to see for $45!

*addendum. I mentioned above that 'ticketmaster's business model is deeply deeply mis-managed'. Obviously, charging 50% transaction charge on every ticket is brilliant business. They are good at the business part, just not the customer experience part. Here is their major problem. All shows in a market go onsale at exactly 10:00 am on Saturday mornings. In a market the size of Denver, on any given Saturday there is a Pepsi Center concert on sale, several pro-sport team events, Red Rocks concerts, Fiddler's Green concerts, etc. So, Red Rocks holds about 10,000. The Pepsi Center holds about 18,000. Fiddlers is about 8,000. The football stadium is 60,000 seats... so you get my point.