Being Fleeced at Gigs

The O2 has got to one of the worst.
£25 to park, dearer if you don't book.
Can't take any water in anymore.
Same trick with the water bottles inside (but we now take our own caps in with us) after having had one to many drinks knocked over.
Heard last year at the Tennis event the security were even stopping you taking your own sweets in.
 
Have you noticed at the o2, downstairs in all the bars, it's a ripoff, but if you go upstairs to the kiosks around the arena you get a meal deal for £8 or so, burger chips and a pint.
I always pre-book the parking at £25. Expensive I know but as it's the only time I venture into London I like the guaranteed spot at the venue.
 
I didn't think it was too bad yesterday to be fair. £2.50 for a bottle of Pepsi/Fanta/water, got a plate of "Nachos Grande" from the Mexican food trailer for £8 which filled me up nicely. Took my boy for the day, went with £60, came home with £40, both fed and watered, although we didn't get there till about 6:30.

The real rip off is the price of gig tickets nowadays.
 
Lord Tyrion said:
At gigs many years ago people would take said empty bottle of coke, relieve themselves in it, put the lid on and throw it. Quite a heavy and unpleasant missile. I think this is one of the reasons the lids are taken off although I am happy to be told otherwise.
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The reason at indoor venues is that in the case of an evacuation, a bottle with a lid on represents a trip/slip hazard; tread on a full bottle with a lid and it will possibly cause you, and consequently others, to fall; tread on one without a top on and you just crush it.

As far as the OP goes, they've been doing it for years, because they can. As others have pointed out if you don't take the tickets somebody else will so they know they'll get away with it. Worst offenders in my book are Bon Jovi (extra for an XXL T-shirt) & Fleetwood Mac (£30 a T-shirt). Bryan Adams on the other hand always prices his tickets reasonably and gives good VFM on the concert front, even if the venue tries to rip you off; not sure it's always the artist to blame.
 
Blue in Munich said:
As far as the OP goes, they've been doing it for years, because they can. As others have pointed out if you don't take the tickets somebody else will so they know they'll get away with it. Worst offenders in my book are Bon Jovi (extra for an XXL T-shirt) & Fleetwood Mac (£30 a T-shirt). Bryan Adams on the other hand always prices his tickets reasonably and gives good VFM on the concert front, even if the venue tries to rip you off; not sure it's always the artist to blame.
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The artists don't get any cut for food and drink though do they? I know they get a cut on merchandise which I guess makes sense. I tend to get to a big venue early, have a few beers at a pub (usually a little distance away) and then just get a single drink to have in the concert. Fortunately I go to a lot of smaller shows where you can still drink and where the prices in the venues are still (just) acceptable
 
spongebob59 said:
1. The O2 has got to one of the worst.
£25 to park, dearer if you don't book.
2. (but we now take our own caps in with us)
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1. Just park at Greenwich train station, its about £6-£8 and a 5 minute walk.

2. That sir is genius.
 
Once went to watch man city v Donny Rovers pre season. I Think it was Sven Goran Ericssons first game in charge.
Anyway I buys the customary cokes in a bottle off this guy behind the counter. In a nutshell we had a bit of a language problem between us but we got served. Walked about 10 yd and proceeded to drink said coke but mine still had the top on. A woman (head steward) walks straight over to me, snatched it outta my hand and starts screaming in my face " you are not allowed to bring drinks in" I told her that I had just purchased this drink and three others from the bar/counter. She then starts shouting "who served you, I will have them sacked".
At this point I just told her to "get stuffed, asked for an apology, and wanted my drink back".
she was having none of it and demanded to know " who had broken her safety rules".
Only other thing of note that day was watching Ishmael Miller. Biggest waste of space in a football shirt.
 
Blue in Munich said:
The reason at indoor venues is that in the case of an evacuation, a bottle with a lid on represents a trip/slip hazard; tread on a full bottle with a lid and it will possibly cause you, and consequently others, to fall; tread on one without a top on and you just crush it.
Click to expand...

I see that but equally in the case of an evacuation, a bottle without a top gets dropped, the liquid pours over the floor and causes, wait for it........, a slip hazard. A bottle with a top on does not pour water everywhere. Hey ho, someone makes the decision and then it becomes standard procedure. Tops on makes more sense to me and the suggestion to take your own tops is, as has already been mentioned, genius.
 
Really surprised to read how wide spread this taking the caps off bottles is and how long it has been going on for. I am sure that this was not the case when I last saw the Foo Fighters and Milton Keynes and on the occasions that I have been to the Download festival you can take in what you want as long as it was not booze.

I can almost see the trip hazard argument but I saw plenty of people slip on squashed plastic bottles and so it seems just as bad. That does not, however, deal with the argument of having sandwiches confiscated. That is pure profiteering in my mind. The venue charges the stalls a fortune to sell there and so the stalls need to ensure a sufficient return so the venue bans food and drink.
 
best tip i ever had for the cricket in the days when you could take picnics, soft pop but no booze. (no idea on the rules these days)

Buy a solid cool box (the blue ones). Empty 2 bottles of vodka in there, add some ice and ten cans of coke/red bull etc and have a few empty glasses!
 
Rooter said:
best tip i ever had for the cricket in the days when you could take picnics, soft pop but no booze. (no idea on the rules these days)

Buy a solid cool box (the blue ones). Empty 2 bottles of vodka in there, add some ice and ten cans of coke/red bull etc and have a few empty glasses!
Click to expand...

Mine was to buy a wine box, take the bag of wine out and wrap it in your coat in your bag. That said, the coolbox idea is a cracker and will be tried in future.
 
I smuggle 2 hip flasks down my pants when I go to a local festival every year. Never failed, plus there's the added bonus that, for some reason, none of my mates are keen on drinking from the hip flasks once we are in there. So more for me.;)
 
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