The crusader: Ticket site a no go after gig ticket fiasco

Clare thought that she had booked a block of four seats at £140 each to see the band play at Liverpool’s Echo Arena last month.

“It was for a special anniversary celebration,” she explains.

“A friend had offered to organise it and I gave him my card.”

But the invoice she got in early March showed almost £900 had been taken from her account.

“The details were so different from what I was expecting I thought my eyes were playing tricks,” Clare told Crusader.

For a start, although the payment had been made in pounds for a UK gig, she had been charged in euros – 988 of them. Also included she says was a €119 administration fee plus a €35 delivery charge which had all triggered a further £23 of exchange rate bank charges.

Then there was the matter of the tickets themselves, which had a face value of £70 each and were dated for a concert that had subsequently been postponed last September.

“The seats were also split up, with two in the upper tier and two below. This seemed excessively expensive and incorrect and I was furious,” says Clare.

But although she sent complaints and said she wanted a refund, “It was very hard getting a clear response from Viagogo.”

She adds: “The clock was ticking as the concert date got closer. The stress was awful as we had all booked hotels. I didn’t want to let the others down but I did want to cancel and book directly with the Arena as £70 tickets were still available.”

When Clare did get through to Viagogo, she was told her tickets were valid for the night and there was a statement on the Arena’s website reassuring people.

“But I have gone days without hearing, there’s no real explanation about what has gone on and why I have been charged in a foreign currency,” she says.

“I cannot help but be worried we could still be turned away at the door.”

Crusader contacted Viagogo many times about her concerns but never received a direct reply.

However after each email from us Clare did get responses within hours about her complaint offering her cancellation options in line with the company’s service guarantee.

“While it was clear that they wanted me to accept a partial refund or a voucher for another concert, I insisted on a full refund,” she says.

“They still said that it had to be in euros though and I had to agree to return the tickets.”

But there was more angst in store for her as there was no one at the address in Holland to which she had been ordered to forward the tickets and they were returned to her. In the meantime Clare rebooked the gig and her party had a whale of a time.

Then a couple of weeks ago a the promised refund of £840 popped up in her account. Even so, Clare remains about £50 out of pocket.

“I was extremely fortunate to have Crusader by my side throughout this,” she says.

“I will never again get anyone to book things on my behalf. I would always check the small print for costs and contact a venue directly or be very careful if doing through an agency.”

She signs off with a classic Who line: “I won’t get fooled again.”

Firm faces crackdown

Elusive Viagogo has been heavily criticised as being part of an online ticket marketplace industry that the Prime Minister has pledged to crack down on because of its practice of enabling resales at vastly inflated prices.

Last month the company, based in Switzerland, snubbed MPs by failing to show up for a select committee hearing.

Consumers should bear in mind many key legal safeguards protecting them apply to the UK and the EU.