Over 400 invalid tickets have been presented at Elton Oz shows
Elton John’s promoters say hundreds of invalid tickets have been presented to the UK music icon’s Australian shows already, but controversial resale site Viagogo says it’s not its problem.
Confidential
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More than 400 invalid tickets have been presented at Elton John’s nine Australian shows so far.
However controversial ticketing resale site Viagogo, who sold many of the invalid tickets, has claimed it is being discriminated against by the music industry.
“For the very small number of people who have encountered issues, many have been because they were identified as Viagogo customers and refused entry,” Viagogo’s head of development Cris Miller said.
“This is obviously very unfair for Australian fans who wanted a second chance to secure a ticket to a once in lifetime performance.”
However Michael Chugg, Elton John’s long-term Australian promoter, refuted the claims.
“That is complete bulls--t. There is no way for us to identify Viagogo customers and refuse them entry.
“They are refused entry when the scanner tells us that the ticket has already been used by another punter. Comments like this are the core of our problem with Viagogo; they are setting out to confuse and deceive the public and the fans are the ones that suffer for it.”
Viagogo insists it has a refund guarantee in place for its customers. However most only find out if their tickets are invalid after they scan them at the venue on the night of the concert.
“A small number of turnbacks were the result of human error and a very small number of customers used tickets that had been bought on the primary market using stolen credit cards,” Miller said.
“Any fan that experiences problems with their tickets in gaining entry to an event should contact Viagogo as soon as possible either by phone or email so we can help secure your refund or find a replacement ticket.
“When fans access Viagogo, they are using a safe, secure and reliable platform that is protected by the Viagogo guarantee and supported by 24-hour customer service.
“There is no incentive for sellers to sell fraudulent tickets on our website because Viagogo does not pay a seller until a buyer successfully attends an event.”
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Chugg said when customers scanned invalid tickets at Elton John shows they were not honoured, leading to a costly process where some punters tried to buy legitimate tickets to that night’s show, if any were still available.
Elton’s tour is in Brisbane before show in Sydney next week and a break for Christmas and New Year.
Chugg warned punters to only buy from Ticketmaster or Ticketek to avoid disappointment.