McALLEN — For now, there’s just one way to buy tickets for events at McAllen’s Convention Center: visit the box office.
Forget phone sales or online ordering. EZ-TIXX, the company responsible for those conveniences, owes the city of McAllen and local promoters more than $100,000.
City leaders severed their ties with the North Carolina-based company last month and opted to work with Ticketmaster instead, but the new arrangement still hasn’t been finalized, said Omar Rodriguez, McAllen’s director of convention facilities.
And until that arrangement comes to fruition, “you have to physically come to the box office here at the Convention Center and purchase a ticket,” Rodriguez said.
City commissioners and staff have been tight-lipped about what went wrong, worried any comments might drag them into a potential lawsuit. It’s unclear how much EZ-TIXX owes, and which promoters haven’t been paid.
At the commission’s Nov. 8 meeting, Commissioner Jim Darling would only say the company owed “six figures.” That night, commissioners authorized legal action against EZ-TIXX, and McAllen has now hired lawyers in North Carolina and Texas.
The Monitor couldn’t reach EZ-TIXX for comment. Employees at the company’s Charlotte, N.C., headquarters said only the company’s president and CEO, Wayne H. Davis, could comment. He didn’t return numerous messages last week, and couldn’t be reached Monday.
EZ-TIXX also handles ticketing for Pharr’s convention center, Smokin’ Aces Bar and Grill in Mission and other local venues.
“We haven’t had any issues with them,” said Alex Rios, manager at Smokin’ Aces.
EZ-TIXX began operating in Hidalgo County three years ago after acquiring RGV Ticketing, an Edinburg-based company. RGV Ticketing hasn’t filed a public information report with the Texas Secretary of State’s office since 2007, and the company’s charter was forfeited in April.
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