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fraudulant online ticket sellers to appear in court

SFO to prosecute six people involved in Xclusive Tickets

Thursday 8th October 2009


Six people involved in the Xclusive companies promotion of on-line sport and concert tickets have been charged by the Serious Fraud Office today.

Please Note: eFestivals only links to reputable ticket agents or an event's own box office, we do not deal with ticket touts or advertise them. So you can have more confidence about the tickets bought from eFestivals than you can from any other festivals website.

The charges brought against the six follow hundreds of complaints by ticket buyers alleging no tickets were delivered and no refunds given. The defendants are to appear at Camberwell Magistrates Court next week on Thursday 15th October 2009.

The case opened in September 2008 following a referral to the Serious Fraud Office from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and was prompted after complaints from the buying public. The companies entered liquidation in September 2008.

The Xclusive companies sold tickets online for a wide variety of events including various summer music festivals in the UK, such as the V Festival, Reading Festival, and Leeds Festival and the Beijing Olympics. A large number of these tickets were not supplied and many customers did not obtain refunds. The companies are also suspected of illegally selling UK football tickets. The total value of tickets not supplied is in excess of £5 million. Additionally, many ticket buyers had arranged, and paid for, travel and accommodation to attend events; costs that unfortunately added to their loss.

Customers of the Xclusive companies who did not receive their tickets and are willing to assist the SFO's enquiry are invited to fill in the questionnaire .

Anyone who has already provided a statement on this matter to the Metropolitan Police or the SFO need not complete the questionnaire. eFestivals asked readers who were ripped off by Xclusive Tickets Limited, Xclusive Leisure & Hospitality Limited and related companies to contact the Serious Fraud Office in november last year. The SFO would like to thank all of the witnesses and the 587 people who have filled in the questionnaire to date.

Although the vast majority of online ticket sales websites are bona fide, the Serious Fraud Office recommends that the public should exercise vigilance when buying online and in particular advises that:-

(1) Sellers in England and Wales of match tickets for FA Premiership, Football League, League Cup and FA Cup games, Conference League and for UEFA and FIFA matches must in law be authorised to do so by the clubs, the leagues or the venues. So, before buying online people should check with any of these to ensure that the ticket agency is authorised. Buying from unauthorised agencies could result in no ticket, a forged ticket or risk through lack of supporter segregation.
(2) For non-football tickets, secondary sale is not illegal but often the terms of their issue prohibit their transfer for profit. Tickets sold in such a manner by an unauthorised agency could be cancelled by the venue or the promoter or may be forgeries. People should check with the venue or promoter before buying.
(3) When checking the credentials of a ticket agency, many internet bulletin boards comment on the service it provides. Though the accuracy of the comments cannot be verified they can highlight agencies that attract a number of complaints about non-supply or non-refund.

Advice on buying online can also be found here.

If you've been the victim of a rip-off ticketing company we suggest the following actions:-
1. Call the police; it is theft if your money has been taken and no product delivered.
2. Report the company to Trading Standards.
3. Contact the BBC's watchdog programme (here).
4. Contact the websites' Internet Service Providers as they have obligations to ensure they are not publishing fraudulent and illegal activity.
5. Contact your credit card company. They should be obliged to refund your money under "section 75" of the Consumer Credit Act.

Do not purchase tickets from unofficial or secondary ticket outlets or auction sites as they often are unable to supply the tickets, and might not even give you a refund - there are a lot of dodgy operators out there! You can find a list of agents we think you should avoid on our forums by clicking here.

Festival goers are best advised to treat offers of tickets for sold out events with great suspicion, and only make online purchases from trusted sites, and not part with their money once a festival has sold out. If you can't get tickets to one festival then why not consider buying tickets to another festival instead?