I wanted to buy a surprise birthday gift for my husband’s 59th birthday and saw advertised tickets for £135 on the website Viagogo. This was on 19th May 2023 the event date advertised was the 11 June 23. I clicked to buy two tickets totalling £270. The ticket seating row numbers or details were not specified at the Cambridge festival. but when I put my Face ID and the approved but the amount approved amount has turned out to be £841. To pay £841 to watch Kool and the gang (my husband’s favourite band) is day light robbery. All my savings went on these tickets, I frantically tried to cancel the transaction without success.
Viagogo claimed that no cancellation can be done on their part that I need to contact the card provider. I called back and forth several times without a solution.
The payment went through. It was an online transaction so unless I film myself making the purchase, I don’t have anything to provide as evidence that the advertised amount was not what was reflected on the final payment. Amex raised a dispute, cancelled, and reinstated again but I did not get my money back. Viagogo has sent evidence to AmEx which just shows how much I paid for it not what it was advertised at.
2 days before event – To accept Viagogo tickets I would need to go through a process of clicking to accept tickets it usually appears around 2 days before the event and there is a risk of tickets not being available at all. However, when I logged on to Viagogo it said that as I have a dispute with the card issuer and that nothing can be done until the dispute is resolved. The only way I can check ticket numbers, seating plans etc is by cancelling the dispute with you. I have read many Viagogo reviews, High court legal action and disputes where tickets were not even available by clicking and on many occasions not allowed entry to events. I did not want to take this risk.
Unfortunately, the event was on 11th June 23. I didn’t get a refund from AMEX and Viagogo. the event was not attended by me or husband.
The merchant (Viagogo) has terrible reviews and has been taken to high court for this sort of action. They are glorified ticket touts. The person (ticket seller) who they are acting as an agent for is just a PO Box number and not even registered. I suspect that they may be connected to Viagogo, and they buy tickets immediately when released and tout them.’
In view of this I requested that American Express to refund you £841.00 by way of Section 75. Amex refused to refund.
based on the fact that American Express can only be held liable under Section 75 for breaches of contract or misrepresentation on behalf of ‘tix gts, In demand services’. They considered that the terms and conditions, which I accepted at the time I completed your purchase, made me aware of this relationship. refering to the ‘Ticketing Exchange’ clause which states ‘Viagogo provides a service that allows members who want to buy tickets (“Buyers”) to find members who to sell tickets (“Sellers”). Viagogo does not take title to the underlying ticket…and the actual transactions are between the Buyers and Sellers.’
I require a refund of £841 and strike off Viagogo as a reputable merchant. I would like to do this on behalf of all consumers. I have spoken to a lawyer who stated that Viagogo has been taken to High Court but as they are based in Geneva, they are not covered by all UK laws. The ticket tout Viagogo was acting as an agent and is only registered to a PO box. There are no details provided and they cant be taken to court.
Incident date: 11 June 2023
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