I’m a huge Loretta Lynn fan. So much so that I drove all the way to Ithaca, NY to see her in March.

Imagine how happy I was to find out she was coming to Massey Hall. Stoked! So, like any normal music fan, I made my way to Ticketmaster’s site, where I was prompted to purchase tickets through Live Nation. I went through the usual process, asking the site for the best two tickets available and inputting my credit card information to pay for them.

Let me get this straight: I’m not upset about the price of the tickets, I’m not upset about where my seats were and I’m certainly not complaining about the quality of the show. My problem lies with Live Nation and their shady business practice.

When I went to their website and selected the option of “2 tickets, best available” I expected to receive the two best seats available at that time. As I found out at the show, this was not the case.

A few days before the concert, I noticed a Groupon deal selling tickets for half price. No problem, if a venue hasn’t sold out, it makes sense to run a special and try to fill the house. I wasn’t upset about paying full price because I (wrongly) assumed that Groupon customers would get the seats that were left over and that I would have better seats than these cheap ones. I was wrong.

Here’s my receipt. As you can see, I paid $168 for two tickets to the show.

Before the show, I met a friend at the Massy Hall bar to catch up over a quick drink. He was really happy that he’d found these Groupon tickets, as he couldn’t afford to go to the show otherwise. Again, no problem, I know he’s a huge Loretta Lynn fan and I was happy that he got to see her. The moment I developed a problem was after our drink, when we went into the theatre to take our seats. Can you believe we were in the same (15th) row? Still, fine, maybe… if he was over on the side with a somewhat obstructed view as I was. But no, he was right in the middle! 15th row centre, one of the best seats in the house!

I tweeted about this, asking Live Nation why this was the case.

Talk about a canned response with no explanation whatsoever. They could have answered me honestly and left it alone, but the lack of response and clear disregard for the customer infuriated me. Here’s their response:

It’s common knowledge that the giant ticket companies and entertainment promoters are in this for the money. They’re driving prices up and making it harder for both artists and fans. I usually stay out of the debate but this situation really bothers me. It’s a prime example of why the music industry is failing and the real fans who are happy to pay for music and spend their money going to see concerts are getting left out in the cold.

I’m clearly not alone in my feelings.

In their defense, whoever does Live Nation’s social media looked into the situation, or said they did.

I still got a canned (and untrue) response but at least I was given a contact to follow up with. I did follow up on Wednesday. No response yet.