Big Concerts has decided to call out reseller Viagogo for their false and misleading representations to South African consumers with Google advertisements which creates the impression that it is a legitimate seller of tickets for events, and that there is a scarcity of tickets when there isn’t.
This is an extremely deceptive practice in which unauthorised sellers fool good-faith buyers into thinking that they can purchase tickets legitimately. In most cases these tickets are sold at vastly inflated prices and these tickets are not valid for entry into venues.
More info about Viagogo
Viagogo also fails to disclose anywhere on their website the risks of purchasing unlawfully resold tickets which are not valid for entry at venues. The reselling of tickets for commercial purposes is unlawful in South Africa and grounds for immediate cancellation of the tickets without a refund.
Viagogo have been fined and called out in several jurisdictions including Australia, Italy and New Zealand for their harmful practices, with over 90% of tickets sold on their platform being by ticket scalpers with only 10% ordinary customers listing their tickets for legitimate reasons.
Speaking out on this issue that continues to spoil events for many who pay top dollar to attend, Big Concerts CEO Justin van Wyk says, “South African music fans deserve far better than this. Organisers and venues get tarnished by organisations like Viagogo regularly. We note on every event’s advertising that we partner only with Ticketmaster, and still somehow Viagogo manages to get people to buy tickets at an enormously inflated prices”.
Van Wyk notes that concert goers who Google the name of an upcoming show will often land on the Viagogo website up first. “This often makes it attractive for fans in a hurry – and within a few clicks, they’ve been had. In addition, as a Concert tour is announced, Viagogo immediately establishes an event page for the shows that are not yet on sale to the public and this allows Viagogo to list their fake wares.”
“Once they’ve tricked eager buyers into handing over their very real money, the speculative sellers scramble to see how many of the promised tickets they can ultimately get their hands on to fulfil the sale. If they can fulfil the order, they pocket a huge profit, and if they can’t, they can simply refund the speculative purchase — it’s a no-risk scam.”
“Whatever happens, the fan loses—either they get a ticket at a hugely inflated price or they don’t get a ticket and get their money back, however, they find out that they won’t be attending their dream show after all.”
Van Wyk goes on to say that “It is unlawful to resell tickets for commercial purposes in South Africa, and you could be fined or go to prison for 10 years if convicted. We’re calling out ticket scalpers and Viagogo who facilitates this unlawful practice.“
Big Concerts warns concert goers not to purchase tickets anywhere except from Ticketmaster which is the only authorised ticketing company for all Big Concerts events. “We again urge the public not to follow links online that take them to sites that claim to have legit tickets to a show.”
Van Wyk asserts. “For anyone who has purchased tickets from Viagogo or any other third party seller, please get your bank to reverse the transaction. Your tickets – if they even arrive – will not be valid. We urge vigilance at all times. Don’t let a scammer wreck your show.”
Ticketmaster website details: https://www.ticketmaster.co.za/
Big Concerts website details: https://www.bigconcerts.co.za/
Watch this space for updates in the Music News category on Running Wolf’s Rant.
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