Faked Tickets
Posted: Thu 21 August, 2008 Filed under: 1BEM, Customer Services, Cynicism, Thoughts 2 Comments »The BBC today has a piece about how to avoid being stung/scammed when it comes to buying concert tickets, following on from the hassles with non-existent tickets from SOS Masters Ltd over the last couple of weekends.
Really though, the entire thing could be summed up with “Only buy tickets from known sources” – even if that means using fuckwit scumbags like Ticketmaster who’ll charge an extra £5 or so per ticket for posting them to you. (not even in separate envelopes) But at least you get the tickets from them (99% of the time – I’ve had one fuckup with them which never got resolved, but that is a rarity) And yes, my opinion is still that it’s better to be ripped off for £5 per ticket than for the full £150 (or whatever) price of a ticket to Reading or Leeds festival, for example. And at least Ticketmaster et al only sell you the tickets they’ve got.
All the same, stories like this won’t stop people from trying to get tickets to sold-out events through resellers or what amounts to online ticket touts, and some people getting ripped off as a result.
Mind you, if times are hard next spring/summer, I can suddenly see a business opportunity – or at least a way to make some cash…
Lots of people round here lost money on V tickets. Given that the site in question were selling them for twenty quid under face value, didn’t punters smell a rat?
As long as people bought more than one (ie over £100 worth) they’ll be covered by their credit card company anyway.
I’m always amazed that people pay for things online with debit cards. Absolutely no protection at all.
With regard to debit cards, I agree – although I think it’s that most people still don’t know that
a) credit cards offer the payment/refund protection
b) debit cards aren’t credit cards when it comes to payment/refund protection
As for people thinking they’re getting something for nothing ( or something for far less than face value on a sold-out event ) I just don’t feel any sympathy at all. I’m not a fan of touts etc., but at least if you buy from a real-world tout, you get a ticket in your hand.
Doing it online is, in my oh-so-fucking-humble opinion, a moronic idea. And as such, those who do it deserve to lose their money.