Coronavirus: Ticketek faces chorus of anger over refunds for cancelled shows

Hundreds of angry Ticketek customers claim they have waited weeks for ticket refunds from cancelled sporting matches and music concerts.

Miley Cyrus fans are waiting for ticket refunds after the US pop star cancelled Australian concerts. Picture: Getty Images

Hundreds of angry Ticketek customers have taken to social media claiming they have been waiting weeks to get their money back from cancelled sporting matches, music concerts and other arts events.

Customers say they had purchased tickets before the COVID-19 pandemic brought the sports and arts industries to a grinding halt.

The ticketing agency’s website says customers “do not need to do anything” if an event they bought tickets to was cancelled or postponed.

COVID-19 update to fans. In the wake of the Federal Government’s Advice that organised non-essential gatherings of more...

Posted by Ticketek Australia on Saturday, March 14, 2020

Anyone who has purchased a ticket “will be contacted via email with the relevant details and the full refund process”, according to the website.

But hundreds of Facebook comments and Tweets show customers have had no communication from Ticketek after promising to refund the cost of tickets within 20 days.

Andy Pham, 28, said he received a ticket refund eight weeks after Taiwanese star Jay Chou rescheduled his March 14 concert in Sydney.

Taiwanese actor and pop star Jay Chou.

“The event was postponed to October, which I wont be able to attend. I then applied for a refund.”

After spending about $1000 on two tickets, he said he threatened to lodge a formal complaint with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and contacted NSW Fair Trading for advice after “multiple emails, posts on Facebook and Twitter”.

“I got really frustrated and gave them a deadline to refund before I took it to the ACCC and NSW Fair Trading,” he said.

Hello, Ticketek team! My enquiry number is 323606. Your Customer Services team informed Tickekek will refund my money...

Posted by Andy Pham Nguyen on Wednesday, April 8, 2020

A Miley Cyrus fan tweeted on April 15 that she had not received a refund for the World Tour concert featuring the US pop singer at the Grand Prix in Melbourne and had been waiting 35 days.

“So many other people I know who also purchased tickets to the same event have received their refunds within the first week. What is going on? I'm extremely frustrated,” she said.

Cyrus was scheduled to play at the Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 13 but cancelled due to the pandemic.

The Australian Grand Prix Corporation said in a statement that all fans would “receive a full refund from Ticketek and will be contacted shortly”.

@Ticketek_AU I ended up calling on this day and they told me there was something wrong on your end and to wait a further 20 days for my refund to process. I still have not received my refund and it has been 35 days now. Now your phone lines are down. Absolutely appalling -

— Courtney (@courtinexcess) April 15, 2020

In response to many of the public messages, Ticketek replied with a blanket message that said the ticketing agency is “working through the unprecedented amount of refunds for all customers for all cancelled events as quickly as possible”.

Other customers, including the Cyrus fan, received a reply from Ticketek requesting account information.

A Ticketek spokesperson said “the vast majority of fans have received their refunds”.

“We are working through millions of ticket refunds in the wake of the unprecedented number of event cancellations and postponements caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” the spokesperson said.

“The vast majority of fans have received their refunds within a 20-working-day window and fans can be assured that our team is working diligently through each event cancellation to contact customers and process their refunds”.