Take That concert at Co-op Live has moved venue. Can I reject my new seats that are 53 rows further back?

Our consumer lawyer answers your questions

I BOOKED to see Take That at the new Co-op Live venue in Manchester. The concert has been moved to the AO Arena, Manchester, but the new seats I’ve been given are 53 rows behind those on my original tickets. What are my rights?

L.M., Derby. THIS is a common complaint among those who have elected to transfer their tickets to the alternative venue following the delay in the Co-op Live arena opening.

Firstly, it is understandable that the organisers have had problems issuing like-for-like tickets, as the AO Arena is not comparable to the Co-op Live because the seating configuration and venue sizes are completely different.

However, this does not diminish your consumer rights.

Your obvious right is to demand a full refund before the concert. Some readers have queried if they can do this after initially choosing replacement tickets rather than a refund. The answer is yes.

The Consumer Rights Act says consumers should get the goods or service as described. And, if the trader (here the venue or ticket seller) must give you a replacement (here replacing the Co- op Live tickets with AO Arena tickets), the replacement must be like-for-like. This means your seats should either be exactly the same, comparable, or better — anything less entitles you to a remedy.

If you have already attended the concert you cannot demand a full refund, but you still have rights. Section 24 of the Consumer Rights Act provides consumers with the right to a ‘price reduction’ (basically a partial refund) in situations where the goods or service received are not in accordance with the contract, and are worth less than what the consumer paid. This is the situation here, as seats 53 rows back will be worth less than the originals.

If you haven’t yet attended the concert and still want to go, you could tell the ticket seller you will keep the tickets if you are given some money back to reflect the fact they are inferior to the originals.

They may say no and only offer a cancellation and full refund. If this is so, you could say you are entitled to a price reduction, as under the Consumer Rights Act they had the right to invoke one remedy and exhausted this when they gave you the replacement tickets, meaning you now have the right to demand a reduced price. I BOUGHT two pairs of trainers online for £104.99 on my credit card. I have tried to return one pair (costing £42) as they are damaged, but the seller will not assist. Can I claim on my credit card?

G.G., Cambridge. WHEN you buy goods with a credit card you may be eligible to protection under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. For Section 75 to apply you must have paid the trader ‘direct’ — the money must have been sent from your credit card straight into the trader’s bank account. So, if you pay via the likes of PayPal, you are not covered, as the money is transferred to PayPal then to the trader. However, PayPal has its own resolution scheme.

The second requirement is that the cost of the goods must be between £100 and £30,000. Note, I said the cost of the goods, not the amount paid on the card. For, as long as the cost of the goods is between the above amounts you are covered, regardless of how much was paid on your card.

So, if the goods cost £200 and you paid £20 on your credit card and the rest in cash, Section 75 will apply. If your claim was successful, your credit card provider would give you the full £200 back.

Applying Section 75 to your circumstances is not good news, as it makes clear the ‘individual’ item complained of (£42 trainers here) must have cost between £100 and £30,000. However the good news is that if you made the purchase within the past 120 days you can instead make a ‘chargeback’ claim with your credit card provider. Here there is no requirement that the goods cost a certain amount.

Chargeback allows you to ask your card provider to withdraw funds deposited in the recipient’s bank account and put them back into your own if goods are damaged. The recipient can dispute a chargeback if it can prove a claim is not valid.