Great day at Newlands after ticket fiasco
AN AVID fan and his godson received a world-class cricketing experience at Newlands after ticket woes with a service provider, thanks to the Western Province Cricket Association (WPCA) .
Les Milner had paid more than R6 500 to Instatickets for two tickets to the annual Newlands New Year’s Cricket Test against England, only for the agency to change his seats and tell him he should have read the terms and conditions.
Milner paid for seats in the President’s Pavilion but received tickets for the Railway Stand, he said.
He has since thanked the Cape Times for running his story, which he said brought the issue to the attention of the cricket association.
“The chief executive at the WPCA, Nabeal Dien, read your article and was so appalled that he rang me and very kindly offered to accommodate my godson and I in the President’s Pavilion hospitality suite. So, in the end, thanks to Mr Dien’s generosity we thoroughly enjoyed our day at the Test.”
Milner added that he was still trying to follow up with Instaticket, but it was proving “impossible to trace their head office”.
Dien said: “It was a pleasure to meet Mr Milner and apologise in person for what he endured. It was an honour to host him and his godson as guests of WPCA in one of our hospitality suites and we hope he continues to come back to support cricket at Newlands for many years to come.”
World Sports Betting Cape Cobras brand and sponsorship manager David Brooke added that when they heard about Milner’s story they wanted to make sure he received the best Newlands experience.
“We try our best to get the message out there and discourage people from buying from unscrupulous websites. Our official online ticket service is Ticketpro.
“We hate hearing stories like this. It is not the first time and unfortunately won’t be the last until people are educated on where to buy tickets. Ticketpro is the only official online ticketing supplier for cricket in South Africa, not any other website.
“We advise the public to stick to the official channels like official supporters clubs, Postnet, Shoprite and if online, only use Ticketpro.”
Approached for comment, Instaticket did not respond by deadline.