by NADEEM BADSHAH
ONLINE TICKET SITES ACCUSED OF CHARGING INFLATED FEES FOR POPULAR EVENTS
WEBSITES which facilitate the purchase and resale of tickets to Bollywood concerts and sports events have been criticised by campaigners over the booking fees they charge customers.
Sellers on the online platforms have also been accused of taking advantage of diehard fans with the prices they are setting for tickets for gigs and cricket matches.
On Viagogo, Britain’s biggest secondary ticketing website, a ticket to see Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s concert in Leicester in July ranged from £40-152, but that did not include a delivery fee, VAT and a booking fee. For the same gig, tickets started from £39.38 on Chilli Tickets with a £1 booking fee.
Last week, football’s ruling body FIFA filed a criminal complaint against Viagogo, saying it wanted to protect fans and prevent unauthorised ticket resales at the World Cup in Russia starting this week.
Zurich-based FIFA said last Tuesday (5) it had filed a complaint, based on the law on unfair competition, with the public prosecutor’s office in Geneva after complaints about the Swiss company’s practices.
FIFA said that its own website was the only legitimate place to buy World Cup tickets, which are on sale until July 15, the final day of the tournament.
Viagogo did not reply to a request for comment.
Jasmine Birtles, director of financial advice website MoneyMagpie, said she would like to see a campaign to ban booking fees.
She said: “I’m glad Eastern Eye is looking at this because it’s a ridiculous situation.
“Booking fees are a particular bugbear of mine, there really is no justification for them.
“Before the internet one might accept that there were costs involved in organising tickets, putting them in the post and so on.
“But now the consumer does all the work – choosing the seats, picking the time and date and putting in their own credit card details in. There is no extra effort made by the vendors so no justification for the booking fees, particularly when they are charged per ticket rather than per transaction.”
Birtles added: “As for the cost of the tickets, again, the consumer seems to have no option but to pay the inflated prices if they are only available on a few sites. It’s likely that we need more competition in this area so people can compare prices on a few sites competing with each other to bring the price down.”
Other examples showed a seller on the Seatwave website offering one ticket to see musician Arijit Singh at Wembley Arena in September for £900.
The price that sellers are charging online has also angered cricket fans who plan to watch India’s tour of England which starts in July.
Grounds, including Lord’s, have a ballot where people apply to buy a ticket, allowing some to cash in by reselling the tickets online.
A customer on Seatwave is selling a pair of tickets for the one-day international at Lord’s in July for £800 including a £145.98 fee.
For the same game, a seller on StubHub set a price of £570 each, plus a £111.15 fee.
Rakesh Patel, founder of the Bharat Army, told Eastern Eye the problem lies with cricket authorities.
“Unfortunately, the secondary ticket market is not something new to cricket fans. However, it seems when India come to town, an increased number of tickets fall into the wrong hands and ‘opportunists’ see this as a way of making some easy cash.
“The root of the problem is not the secondary market platforms, it’s the decision making on how tickets get distributed in the first place.
“The Bharat Army have managed to secure large blocks of tickets for all of India’s matches this summer by working closely with the ECB county grounds, apart from those matches at Lord’s.
“Most of our Bharat Army blocks are now sold out; however, a number of our members have chosen to boycott Lord’s and are refusing to pay the extortionate secondary ticket market prices – a real shame.”
The Citizens Advice consumer service helped with 1,000 queries relating to ticket resales last year. It advises consumers to buy a ticket from the event’s official seller or from the venue. Its recommendation is to also check the event or venue website to find out who the official sellers are and if they are a member of the Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers.
In April, StubHub, GetMeIn and Seatwave pledged to give better information about the tickets they are selling after enforcement action by the competition watchdog. They agreed to make clear whether there is a risk a customer might be turned away at the door, which seat in the venue the customer will get, who is selling the ticket and the identity of the seller.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said Viagogo is facing court action after “failing to address its concerns”.
Michael Grenfell, the CMA’s executive director for enforcement, said: “Thousands of people use secondary ticketing websites to buy tickets for concerts, theatre and other events. So it’s crucial they are told what they are buying, from whom they are buying it, and whether their ticket might not actually get them into the event.
“We welcome the changes already made and new commitments we’ve been given by StubHub, Seatwave and GetMeIn to improve the information on offer, so that people can better judge whether they’re getting a good deal.”
Websites including StubHub state the face value of tickets for events and have a disclaimer that “ticket prices are set by the sellers and may be higher than face value”.
In March, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ordered StubHub, Viagogo, Seatwave, and GetMeIn to make the total ticket price, VAT-inclusive booking fee and delivery fee clear at the start of the booking process. Viagogo was also barred from making a “100% Guarantee” claim in its ads which the ASA said misleadingly suggested consumers were guaranteed entry to a venue.
Last month, English singer Ed Sheeran and his promoters announced that tickets for his concerts sold on Viagogo would be deemed invalid.
A StubHub spokeswoman said: “As a consumer-first ticket marketplace, StubHub supports any measures which make ticket buying easier, more convenient and more transparent for fans.
“We welcome this opportunity to work closely with the ASA and we will be fully compliant with its decision. We hope that other players in the ticketing industry, including primary issuers, follow suit.”
Viagogo has yet to comment on the measures.
A spokeswoman for Ticketmaster, which owns Seatwave and GetMeIn, said: “Our ticket resale sites already ensure fans know exactly what they will pay at every stage of the buying process, displaying all fees as soon as the customer selects and submits the number of tickets they are looking to buy.
“We will continue to work with both the ASA and the CMA to further develop transparency and consumer protection within the UK ticketing sector.”
