THUNDER BAY — When buying tickets for the CLE's Family Fair, community members may have to pay extra fees.
If advanced entry tickets and ride bands for the fair are purchased on the Canadian ticket sales platform FrontDoor+, patrons will be subjected to an additional convenience fee and credit card fee.
With concern over hidden fees on the online sales platform, residents across Northwestern Ontario have taken complaints to social media.
“You can buy online but you get charged over $10 for convenience and credit card fees,” said one area resident Facebook. “Not much of a savings depending how many things you are buying, I guess I'll go to the store.”
Multiple residents have also voiced concerns over the event being out of their price range on local social media platforms.
“As a senior those rates are a bit high, will have to pass again this year,” another user said.
CLE officials said the hidden fees are not going to the fair, but to the sales platform.
“It is the fees that is being charged by Front Door, for using their services,” said Jassim Abdul Rahman, CLE spokesperson. “These fees have nothing to do with the CLE itself.”
Advanced entry tickets and ride bands for the fair can also be purchased in Thunder Bay with no extra fees at the Canadian Tire on Arthur Street and at the Shoppers Drug Mart in the McIntyre Centre.
Extra ticket and ride band fees can also be avoided if they are purchased in Nipigon and Marathon at the Canadian Tire locations, Northern Computers in Terrace Bay and at the Wellington Inn in Sioux Lookout.
Children under the age of four are allowed a free entry ticket to the fair, but will require a ride band, and the CLE is offering gate entry and a movie ticket at SilverCity for a discounted price of $20.
“The only way to avoid the fees for buying it online is to go and buy at the stores,” he said.
