Companies Are Defrauding You In The Name Of Online Ticket Booking, Secretly Cutting Your Pocket In This Way

Companies cheat in the name of online ticket booking, thereby cutting into their pockets

Be it watching Stree 2 or Zakir Khan’s comedy event or watching a cricket match… most people have started booking tickets online instead of buying them at the counter and to avoid hassles. This is the reason why nowadays the hall gets packed before the movie release. But did you know that ticket booking platforms like Book My Show and PVR are silently draining your pocket? If you too don’t know how your pocket is being cut, let us know…

In fact, online ticketing platforms like PVR and Book My Show use marketing methods like drip pricing and hidden charges to show you one price and charge another. This has been revealed by a recent survey. The survey revealed that companies are crippling people’s pockets in different ways, sometimes in the name of social donation or in any other name.

intensive use of dark patterns

A survey in local circles has revealed that dark patterns are being widely used in the ticketing business for movies and events. In the survey, 73 percent of people said that they have been victims of basket theft. In basket theft, companies add extra charges to the customer’s cart without informing them. Almost 80 percent reported that they had to pay hidden charges while booking. Also, 62 percent of people have been victims of unnecessary messages while booking tickets. These messages show that if they do not book the ticket soon, they will have to regret it. This can also be understood as drip pricing or flexible pricing method. In this, the customer is shown that they are getting the ticket at a lower price and if they delay, they may have to spend more money.

They are doing this trick

In this survey, around 22 thousand people from 296 districts of the country were interviewed. Of them, 61 percent were male and 39 percent were female. 44 percent people from Tier 1 cities, 31 percent from Tier 2 cities and 25 percent from Tier 3 and 4 cities participated in the survey. They were asked for their opinion on different movie and event ticketing apps. People complained about 3 types of dark patterns regarding PVR, Book My Show. They said that Book My Show does tricks like sneaking, drip pricing and false urgency. Apart from this, PVRs also engage in sneaky basket fixing and drip pricing.

The Central Consumer Protection Authority had provided information on 13 dark patterns.

People said that these companies keep the ticket prices cheap. But they charge huge online booking fees. Apart from this, the companies already impose a lot of additional charges. If you do not remove them carefully, that money will also be deducted during booking without your knowledge. Apart from this, people said that they are also asked for unnecessary information. The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) had provided information about 13 such dark patterns in 2023. Moreover, they were considered misleading advertisements and unfair business practices.