If you’re trying to delete your Ticketmaster account but can’t figure out how, you’re not alone. Many Ticketmaster users have found it difficult or impossible to permanently delete their accounts. There are a few reasons why Ticketmaster makes it challenging to completely remove your account.
Ticketmaster wants to maintain your data
One of the main reasons Ticketmaster doesn’t allow easy account deletion is because they want to maintain data on their users. This data is valuable to them for marketing purposes and optimizing their platform. By keeping your account active, even if you don’t use it, they can continue building a profile of your preferences and purchasing behavior over time. This data then allows them to target you with more relevant recommendations and offers.
Account deletion is not straightforward
Ticketmaster does not make the account deletion process simple or straightforward. There is no self-service “delete account” option for users. You have to contact their customer support and request account closure. Even then, they may try to dissuade you or convince you to keep your account open. Some users have reported being stonewalled or ignored when asking for account deletion. Short of completely closing your account, you can remove some personal info and order history, but core account data remains.
Parts of your account remain active
Even if you manage to go through the closure process, parts of your Ticketmaster account may stay active behind the scenes. For instance, if you made any purchases tied to your account, like for season tickets or a subscription, those likely stay linked to your closed account. Any data associated with those transactions remains in their systems. So you can’t necessarily achieve a complete and permanent deletion of all Ticketmaster account data.
Your data helps improve their service
Ticketmaster will be reluctant to let go of your account information because data on customers allows them to improve their services. Details like your purchase history, browsing behavior, which events you showed interest in but didn’t buy tickets for, and more are highly useful for their business operations. This data enables them to tweak their platform, tailor recommendations, surface relevant promotions, identify sales opportunities, and make the site more profitable. Therefore, they want to retain as much customer data as possible.
You may change your mind later
Ticketmaster knows that even if you want to delete your account now, you may change your mind later and want to start using their services again. By keeping your account open in a deactivated state, they make it easier for you to restore it and resume business with them. Reactivating an existing account is much simpler than creating a brand new one. They are banking on winning back your business down the road.
Deleting accounts has risks
For a company like Ticketmaster that manages so many customer accounts and transactions, there are risks associated with account deletion. Deleting accounts can be complex from a technical perspective. If not handled properly, it could disrupt records of past purchases and account activity. There is also a small chance of data being deleted unintentionally or accounts mixed up. Limiting deletions reduces these risks of errors causing problems for customers and their system.
Alternatives to account deletion
Even if completely deleting your Ticketmaster account seems impossible, there are a few alternatives to consider:
- Deactivate your account – This removes your profile from view and blocks purchases or account access. However, Ticketmaster still retains your data.
- Remove personal info – You can erase profile details like your name, email, address, payment methods, etc. to enhance privacy.
- Delete order history – Removing your order information gets rid of this record of your activity and purchases.
- Opt out of marketing – They should respect requests to not send promotional emails, ads and offers.
- Contact customer support – Keep trying to work with their service team to remove as much of your account as possible.
Why you may want to delete your Ticketmaster account
There are a few common reasons why Ticketmaster users seek to delete their accounts entirely:
- Privacy concerns – You may not like Ticketmaster storing your personal info and want it gone.
- Stop getting marketing messages – Deleting the account should end promotional contact from Ticketmaster.
- No longer use the service – If you no longer buy tickets through them, you may not need an account.
- Bad customer experience – Poor service or other issues may motivate you to leave.
- Created multiple accounts – Consolidating accounts by removing some may be desirable.
Is permanent account deletion possible?
While very difficult, some Ticketmaster users report being able to fully delete their accounts after much effort and persistence contacting customer service. Here are some steps that may work:
- Access your Ticketmaster account settings and remove as much personal information as you can – name, email, address, payment methods, order history etc.
- Contact Ticketmaster customer service by phone and request account closure. Be firm and don’t back down if they push back.
- If the first rep won’t delete your account, repeatedly insist on it being escalated to a supervisor.
- Clarify that you want the account permanently deleted, not just deactivated.
- Request written confirmation that your account has been deleted.
- Periodically check that your account does not reactivate on its own.
With persistence and escalation, you may finally get Ticketmaster to delete your account fully. But expect it to be an uphill battle unless regulations change to give consumers more control over their data.
Will Ticketmaster ever make it easier to delete accounts?
While unlikely anytime soon, there are a couple factors that could motivate Ticketmaster to eventually make account deletion easier:
- Legal requirements – If regulations enhanced consumer rights around data privacy and required more account deletion options.
- Competitive pressure – If other ticketing platforms allowed easier closure of accounts, it could pressure Ticketmaster to follow suit.
However, since Ticketmaster currently occupies a dominant position in the ticketing market, there is little incentive for them to change their deletion policies and lose customer data. Unless forced to by law, significant industry changes would probably need to happen before they voluntarily made account deletion more straightforward. For now, consumers have to jump through hoops if they want their Ticketmaster accounts gone for good.