Ticketmaster closes sites used to rip off fans after Mail exposés
‘Help stop touts making profits’
TICKETMASTER is to shut down its ticket resale websites Seatwave and Get Me In following a backlash from fans as well as artists such as Ed Sheeran and Adele.
The move follows complaints that touts were hoovering up tickets sold online for popular concerts, shows and sporting events to sell them on at vastly inflated prices via the sites.
It comes after the Daily Mail highlighted how some resale websites take advantage of the loyalty of fans to charge many times the face value of tickets.
Sites have been breaking the law by failing to list the original face value of tickets, the seat location or any warning they may not be valid if bought through a non-approved party.
Ticket resale websites have also been found guilty of hitting customers with a raft of rip-off charges.
Ticketmaster made its announcement in a blog post, saying consumers have become ‘tired of seeing others snap up tickets just to resell for a profit’, and so the sites ‘just don’t cut it anymore’.
The ticket- selling company will cull Seatwave and Get Me In across Europe in October and will also stop listing any new events on either site.
Instead, in a revolutionary move, it will launch a fan-to-fan ticket exchange system, where people can buy or sell tickets through its website or app at the price originally paid or less.
Andrew Parsons, managing director of Ticketmaster UK, said: ‘We know fans are tired of seeing tickets being snapped up just to find them being resold for a profit on secondary websites, so we have taken action.
‘Closing down our secondary sites and creating a ticket exchange on Ticketmaster has always been our long-term plan. ‘Our new Ticketmaster ticket exchange lets fans sell tickets they can’t use directly through their Ticketmaster account, for the price originally paid or less.’
SNP MP Patricia Gibson, her party’s spokesman on consumer affairs, said the move would ‘help prevent touts ripping- off ordi- nary consumers, and making huge profits at their expense’.
Last year, Ed Sheeran cancelled 10,000 tickets for his Wembley Stadium gigs because some originally costing between £49 and £88 were being offered online for up to £1,000 each. At the time, he said: ‘I hate the idea of people paying more than face value for tickets.’ Adele and Arctic Monkeys have insisted that purchasers’ names are printed on tickets for their concerts as part of a range of measures to prevent the tickets being sold on by touts.
Earlier this year, the Advertising Standards Authority criticised popular sites, including Seatwave and Get Me In, for hitting customers with ‘drip pricing’, where VAT, booking and delivery fees were added at the end of the booking process.
The worst offender is Viagogo, which is not part of Ticketmaster. It has been accused of flouting laws designed to ensure customers are treated fairly.
In March, a Daily Mail investigation highlighted the unscrupulous methods Viagogo uses to fleece consumers. High-pressure sales tactics try to rush customers into buying tickets. When a reporter attempted to buy an £18 ticket for a Taylor Swift concert, he was incorrectly informed by Viagogo that the face value was £180 – and was eventually charged £240. The ticket, for the BBC’s Biggest Weekend event, was invalid due to its ban on second-hand tickets.
The Competition & Markets Authority has said it is considering legal action against Viagogo for apparently breaking a legally binding commitment to give clear information about tickets offered through the site.
The CMA said customers have also had problems getting their money back from the company under a refund guarantee.
Viagogo has always denied any responsibility for the problems and says it is simply a trading platform for others to buy and sell tickets.