Viagogo looks like an official concert site but they’re stealing our money

VIAGOGO’S clever at paying for online positioning and manipulating search engines so their website pops up first and look like an official ticketing site. They must be shut down.

I ’M mad as hell because someone stole nearly $300 from my brother. We went to see Barry Humphries the other night at the Festival Theatre. I originally wanted to pay for my brother’s ticket for his birthday, but I discovered he’d been told the show was selling so fast it might sell out so he jumped online and bought some tickets before I did.

I’ll tell you what happened next, but first I have to tell you why I’m so angry. It’s because Phil has always been honest and trusting of others. He spent his whole life working in the public hospital system. He lives by the medico’s mantra “do no harm”.
I’ve always looked up to him. Robbing him on the internet is the lowest of the low. Even if the smart arse who came up with this scheme can evade the law he’s still a criminal in my eyes. I’d like to see the new SA Government take these crooks on. Let’s make this a Federal Election issue, too. Who’s going to tell Viagogo and the other scammers the game’s over?

Phil has always been my hero. He’s 10 years older than me.
When I started school he was 15. I remember him running in the U16 880 yard state championship in the west parklands.

As a five-year-old I ran on to the inside of the grass track with my spindly little legs running alongside him on the last bend yelling: “Go Phil. You can win.” And he did. Then I started at the same school as him. By this time, he was head prefect. He was at the top of the class and winning at everything. He did so well he won a scholarship and was the first member of our family to go to university. He graduated as a doctor at 22 and had a career that lasted almost 50 years. Most of it at the Repat.

But lately life hasn’t been good. Not long after he retired his wife was diagnosed with a brain tumour. She died late last year.
For his 73rd birthday I thought I’d buy him a ticket to Barry Humphries. As I said, when I rang he’d already bought a couple of tickets and was going with a friend so I said I’d buy two more tickets so my wife and I could go as well. Phil told me I’d be lucky to get any as he’d almost got the last two, according to the ticket site.

I went online, found plenty of tickets and rang him to find out where he was sitting. I was able to buy in the same section a few seats away. What luck. Phil added I must have been very lucky to even get the seats. When I told him I paid $150 for two tickets he was amazed. But I was even more gobsmacked when I discovered he’d paid $446.36. He was another victim of Viagogo.

Two years ago, when I was on radio I talked to Jimmy Barnes about the tour he was doing with his family singing and reading from his book Working Class Boy. One listener rang in saying she’d paid hundreds of dollars for two tickets and was wondering why it was so expensive. She was from Elizabeth and was taking her daughter. She was a migrant from the same part of Glasgow as Jimmy. We worked out she had been ripped off by Viagogo, too.

Barnesy was furious saying: “Why can’t someone stop these robbers?” We invited the fan into the studio to meet Jimmy when he was in town. He gave her an autographed copy of his book and a hug, and said how sorry he was that she’d been ripped off.

Viagogo’s clever at manipulating search engines or paying to appear at the top of them so they pop up first and look like an official concert site. But it’s an “on selling” site whose head office is in Geneva, Switzerland, the haven for those with millions in ill-gotten gains.

Have a look at how it managed to turn two $75 tickets into $446.36. It charged $168.21 for each ticket, added a booking and handling fee of $99.95 and then VAT of $9.99. VAT?!

Last year, 500 complaints were made about Viagogo to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. It said it was taking action for false and misleading conduct, not the least of which is to pop up with “Official Concert Site” emblazoned over everything from Adele to ZZ Top. But they’re still operating.

They had the gall to email Phil for a review of the service. He uncharacteristically told Viagogo: “Go and get f…ed.” Anyway Barry Humphries was wonderful. Phil laughed and laughed, and wanted me to share his story so you won’t make the same mistake. Happy Birthday Phil.

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