How Mail exposed bid to fleece fans of Taylor Swift
THE unscrupulous methods used by Viagogo to fleece unsuspecting consumers were highlighted in a Daily Mail investigation earlier this year.
High-pressure sales tactics try to rush customers into buying tickets.
When a reporter from this newspaper attempted to buy an £18 ticket for a Taylor Swift concert, he was incorrectly informed by Viagogo that the face value was £180 – and eventually charged £240.
The ticket, for the BBC’s Biggest Weekend event, was invalid due to its ban on second-hand tickets.
Tactics used by the Viagogo website include graphics warning buyers that only a small number of tickets are left for the event in question, or a statistic such as: ‘Less than one per cent.’
Another alert warns buyers that ‘11 other people are viewing this event’. These claims are largely false.
Viagogo also includes the use of a ticking clock to give the impression an offer on the screen is about to vanish.
If customers proceed, the full price – including VAT and a ‘handling fee’ – is only revealed at the final moment as the customer is asked to enter their bank details.
Many miss this detail in the rush to buy tickets, prompting the ASA’s request for greater transparency. Viagogo also claims tickets are ‘100% guaranteed’. However the Mail found it selling tickets at 13 times their face value for events where concert promoters had already warned that those with tickets bought on the resale site would be denied entry.
This method is increasingly being used to curb the activities of ticket touts.
Viagogo argued its claim of a ‘100% guarantee’ meant customers would receive tickets or a refund if they were not delivered. But the ASA rejected this yesterday, saying customers buying tickets with a ‘100% guarantee’ would expect to receive correct, valid tickets.