A friend emailed me yesterday about the surprise he received when buying tickets online for an event at the historic Hawaii Theatre in downtown Honolulu.

In addition to the posted ticket price, he was surprised to be hit by a list of additional charges which are not apparent when looking at a price list for seats.

For each ticker purchase there are some new add ons.

$5.00 for box office pick up
$5.00 for restoration fee
$4.50 for processing fee
$1.00 for promoters fee

So for each say, $15.00 ticket there is a $15.50 add on in fees.

For example, the cost of two good seats for an upcoming event was $128, but after fees the total jumped to $154, an increase of just over 20%.

The theater’s website does warn: “Tickets purchased online require payment of “convenience fees.” Please review the BUY NOW information carefully during your online purchase.”

I don’t know whether the the additional costs, if clearly presented along with ticket prices, would deter many buyers. But most ticket buyers would probably appreciate knowing right up front what their night out is going to cost.

My friend was told there have been many complaints about the added fees, which apparently have been adopted by the theater’s new management, led by president and CEO Gregory Dunn, who recently took over at the theater after nearly five years as CEO of the Hawaii Better Business Bureau.

According to an upcoming Eventbrite event.

Rather than announcing the appointment of a new President & CEO immediately, the Hawaii Theatre Center took the opportunity to spend the last four months under the leadership of Gregory Dunn, quietly evaluating it’s business model, state of community engagement, staffing requirements and stakeholder engagement.

BRING YOUR LUNCH & LEARN: Greg will share with us what he learned over that time period, how he analyzed, planned and is now taking action to execute the changes as the new CEO and President of the Hawaii Theatre Centre.