Kiwis share Viagogo stories
Kiwi concert goers who have fallen victim to Viagogo are relieved the Commerce Commission is taking the ticket reseller to court.
Claire Turnham, creator of Facebook group Victim of Viagogo, has described what the site does to people as ‘‘absolutely heartbreaking’’.
Turnham had $2500 removed from her account for just four Ed Sheeran tickets.
She managed to get her money back and is now helping the 1400 disappointed consumers who have joined her group since March.
‘‘We’ve turned it into a massive campaign,’’ she told the AM Show.
‘‘I’ve just been on the Ed Sheeran tour and seen so many people affected, whether it be invalid tickets, not knowing if the tickets are fake, not knowing if there are any seats.’’
‘‘It’s fraud and deceptive practice,’’ she added.
Likening the site’s timepressured interface to a ‘‘sugar rush’’, AM Show host Duncan Garner also shared his Viagogo experience.
‘‘I was lucky earlier this year [for Bruno Mars tickets]. I bought them on Viagogo and I got in, but man, I probably shouldn’t have,’’ adding that he ‘‘paid a little bit more, but not much more’’.
While invalid tickets make up a portion of the complaints, users also incur hidden charges, have money taken from their accounts without consent, are unable to confirm the validity of the tickets, have them cancelled last minute, and commonly feel manipulated by the site’s format.
It’s an experience Parnassusbased chef Kristine Coe, who bought Imagine Dragons tickets from the site earlier this year, is now all too familiar with.
‘‘Once we opened the site, my daughter Ashley-May was like, ‘Come on mum, look, the clock’s ticking!’, and then it tells you how many other people are looking at the same tickets.’’
Sensing as soon as she bought the tickets that something wasn’t right, Coe ultimately paid more than $700 for tickets that should have come in under $500.
While the event’s official retailer, Ticketmaster, couldn’t check the tickets, it was able to provide advice on what to do next.
‘‘Ticketmaster said it couldn’t help us, but the woman did tell us to get there really early. We got there so early we were behind just one other man. I tell you what, I was sweating,’’ Coe said.
‘‘By the time I got in tears were flowing down my face. If we hadn’t got in I would’ve lost the ticket money, plus the airfares to get there, and the car hire.
‘‘I was absolutely stoked. The first thing I did was go buy a wine for 10 bucks. It was so emotional.’’
Being front of the line, Coe got in, but she is aware of the fact that if anyone else had been sold the same tickets, and was further back in the queue, they would have been sent away.
‘‘For all we know there could have been 10 people behind me with the exact same photocopied ticket who didn’t get in.’’
Quantity surveyor Becca Peterson ended up paying $1200 dollars for tickets to Celine Dion that never eventuated.
‘‘I was buying tickets for my mum for Celine Dion in Auckland. My sister sent me the link and I presumed that everything was legit, because I had never bought a concert ticket before.
‘‘It wasn’t until the card details were entered two to three times that I assumed something was fishy.
‘‘When the amount I was charged came up in pounds, that cemented in my mind something was very wrong.’’
Immediately cancelling the credit card, Peterson said it still took three months for the $1200 she was charged for two standard tickets to be reimbursed, adding that she has a friend to thank for confirming her suspicions.
‘‘We never ended up attempting to use the tickets, or being disappointed after flying up to Auckland.’’
Over the past 12 months Kiwis have reported being scammed out of money and tickets for All Blacks tests, Bruno Mars, The Killers, Shania Twain, Roger Waters and stage shows at Nelson’s Theatre Royal, among other events.
‘‘I’ve just been on the Ed Sheeran tour and seen so many people affected, whether it be invalid tickets, not knowing if the tickets are fake, not knowing if there are any seats. It’s fraud and deceptive practice.’’ Claire Turnham