The magic of Aladdin has been somewhat tarnished for consumers who have been asked to pay a £2 telephone booking fee.
The fee is per ticket, even if the tickets are being bought en bloc from Dublin's Gaiety Theatre, which is staging the pantomime. This charge was not detailed in the Dublin theatre guide advertisement in yesterday's Irish Times. It simply stated that tickets cost from £10.50. Mr Hugo Jellett, marketing manager of the Gaiety, said people could avoid the booking fee by going to the box office.
He said the charge was levied because the company had to pay its box-office staff. The size of the fee is determined by Ticketmaster, which also sells tickets for the Gaiety, he added.
The systems have to work in tandem so that seats are not double sold. He said the Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs had inquired about the theatre guide advert.
"Although it's a paid-for space, it's not a display ad. It's more of a reference, a one-glance one-stop shop . . . when people are purchasing tickets by telephone, the charges are made clear to them." He admitted the booking fee was a major headache and it was hoped a website might be set up and a reduced fee charged.
The European Consumer Centre has received "numerous complaints" from consumers who have been confused about additional charges when buying concert tickets.
The chief executive of the Consumers' Association of Ireland, Mr Dermott Jewell, said his organisation was aware of complaints and the matter was under investigation.
The Consumer Information (Advertisements for Concert or Theatre Performances) Order 1997 states that "in every written advertisement for a public concert or theatre performance the admission price must be indicated and, where applicable, and separately, the amount, in monetary or percentage terms, of any additional charge and the circumstances in which such additional charges are payable".
In all other forms of advertising the admission price must be stated together with a reference to the fact that an additional charge may be payable in certain circumstances.
The Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs successfully prosecuted MCD Management Services Ltd following complaints about an advertisement for a concert by The Verve in Slane, Co Meath, in August 1998.
In June 1999, MCD Management pleaded guilty to transgressing the Consumer Information Order. A spokeswoman for the European Consumer Centre said: "The Consumer Information Act outlaws misleading indications of the price of goods and this aims to limit hidden extras in the price.
"This law states that if you see a price on some product, you should not have to pay any extra charges, if there are no indications of such extra charges."
She advised consumers to refer misleading advertisements to the Director of Consumer Affairs for further investigation.