Touts Viagogo ‘tell blatant lies’ to sell overpriced gig tickets
Festival boss slams reseller’s tactics
ORGANISERS of summer music festival Party at the Palace are at war with Viagogo amid claims fans were tricked into buying tickets at inflated prices.
The controversial secondary ticketing website claim there are just a handful of tickets left for the two-day event at Linlithgow Palace in West Lothian in August.
But there are thousands available at face value through the festival website and official ticket partners.
Party at the Palace boss John Richardson fumed: “People who have contacted us have paid more than double face value for tickets that are readily available.
“We Googled Party at the Palace and Viagogo come up at the top because they have paid for an advert. So people assume it is the official ticket site and when you click through, Viagogo tell you that there are less than one per cent of tickets available, which is so misleading.
“People are panicked into buying then realise they have paid twice the face value of the ticket. It is an absolute scam.” Inspired by Ed Sheeran, the organisers say tickets bought from Viagogo will be invalid. Fans are being told to demand a refund from the firm before buying them at face value from Party at the Palace.
They are also taking legal advice and have ordered the site to remove their tickets from sale – but say they are being ignored.
The Record revealed how Sheeran took on the ticketing website after fans bought tickets for his Hampden gigs last weekend at inflated prices. People who did so were refused entry until they bought fresh face value tickets at the venue.
Richardson said: “We have been in touch with Ed Sheeran and we have told Viagogo we do not want them selling tickets on our behalf and they will not be valid. We believe Viagogo are exploiting people who are not regular concert goers.
“They are scamming it and it is outrageous that they could put so much misinformation on that one page of the site. It is absolute trash. There are plenty of tickets available, so much so that after people buy from Viagogo at double face value, there is nothing to stop Viagogo buying them from us.
“Our customers are getting fleeced and we have a duty to stand up and say, ‘This is not right’. I want to echo what Ed Sheeran has said.
“We will guarantee anyone who purchased a ticket via Viagogo that we will sell them a ticket at face value once they have got their money back from Viagogo, like the many fans who went to see Ed Sheeran.”
Party at the Palace is being held on August 11 and 12.
Texas headline the Sunday while other star acts include Melanie C, James and Embrace.