Buy tickets from authorised sellers, advise event organisers
AFTER travelling over 10,500km to Stamford Bridge in London and spending about RM1,200 on tickets to watch The Blues in action, diehard Chelsea FC fan Zachary John almost didn’t make it past the stadium’s gate.
The reason? He was holding match tickets purchased from StubHub.my, a ticketing platform not recognised by the Chelsea football club.
Chelsea’s official website lists a number of official ticketing agents, and states that tickets bought from a tout or unauthorised online ticket agency will be considered invalid and buyers are likely to be refused entry or ejected from the stadium.
John wanted to catch Chelsea in action at Stamford Bridge and managed to convince his parents to make their family trip to London last year.
“I googled where to buy tickets for a Chelsea match and StubHub.my appeared as the top pick. I had never heard of the website prior to this but it looked legit,” said the 21-year-old Medicinal Chemistry student, who used a credit card to purchase the tick- ets to watch Chelsea playing against Southampton FC on Dec 16 last year.
StubHub.my is not a ticketing agent but one of the many “fan-to-fan marketplaces” where people go to sell and buy tickets to football events, festivals and concerts happening worldwide. Here, the tickets can cost 10 times the original price, and more event organisers are barring tickets purchased from such sites.
“StubHub.my stated that the tickets could only be sent to an address located in Britain, and I used the address of relatives who reside there. I found it strange that the enve- lope containing the tickets showed that it was delivered from Belgium and didn’t have StubHub.my stamped anywhere on it,” said John.
The guards at the stadium said that the tickets were legit, but didn’t allow an easy entry. John was questioned by the authorities and had to give his personal details, explain where he stayed during the trip and even had pictures of the tickets taken.
“I was not the only one questioned that day. Many people who bought their tickets from unauthorised sellers were held back from entering the stadium,” said John. “Eventually they let us in but not before reminding us that StubHub.my is not an authorised ticket seller and that in the future, we should not buy our tickets from there.” However, not everyone can be as lucky as John.
A call to Tribunal For Consumer Claim Malaysia explained that buyers who knowingly purchase tickets from unauthorised ticket sellers despite clear warnings from event organisers will have a difficult time demanding for compensation.