Re: Oh yes, Congress is serious!
Yep — having avoided Ticketmaster for about fifteen years I used to think that See weren't quite as corporate-wanker but haven't used them unless forced to since they double-charged me for tickets a few years ago and refused to budge on refunding me until I gave up on the basis that at least it represented another ticket sale for a smaller artist.
I'm still pissed off that I didn't get tickets for Pulp this year as I've wanted to see them for over a decade. The only place they said you could get tickets in their announcement* was Ticketmaster, and having set several reminders and gotten myself up at whatever ungodly hour they started selling tickets** I proceeded to watch the site crap out until they were all gone. Later found out they were available through Ticketline and others. Seething. Last thing I'd expect from someone like Pulp.
Last time I did use Ticketmaster "successfully" was for NIN, where they were the only choice available. That stung too (including financially), as again it's not what I've necessarily come to expect from Reznor (hell, he likes making money and selling merch and I'm all up for that, but he's consistently banged the drum for music and experiences being available to all). Was charged something like £80 and some ridiculous fee for a "souvenir ticket" which arrived after the gig.
If I'm wanting to buy tickets for anything non-independent, I tend to go down the hierarchy of Dice > venue > Ticketline (this one usually takes priority if I want a physical ticket) > $others. Things seem to have gotten so much worse over time that I barely actually go and see anyone big anymore.
* Pulp haven't had a mailing list for aeons and seem to operate almost exclusively out of an Instagram account (which I can't see) these days. Only reason I found out about the tour in the first place was a Graun article, though I'd been googling every few months to see if they were doing anything. After the article I religiously googled every day for months until tour and sale dates had been announced; I went off the links in their Tweet which I was able to just about see
** probably 0900 or 1000, definitely not a time when my brain is functional