Dispatches- The Great Ticket Scandal, C4 Thursday 9pm

[mrtourette]

Maybe ask melvin benn next time you interview him Neil: i asked him during a Q and A on the latitude forums about latitude tickets goign straight on these sort of sites, and the asnwer was basically 'safe way to purchase tickets blah blah'.

[rustysub]

mrtourette you sum it up very well.

Viagogo, Seatwave et al are only doing what individuals regularly do but on a much larger scale. It is disingenuous for individuals to preach about rip off practices and then buy extra gig/fest tickets to slap on ebay for profit. However, the line that the secondary market practioners spin, ie ensuring that the punter gets a guaranteed genuine ticket, is being abused with the complicit backing of the primary marketeers. Neil is right when he says that if the bands are also implicated, although turning a guilty blind eye, then the whole business is corrupt. Who would have thought that the music industry is corrupt?!

Touts will still operate, supply & demand will always be manipulated, but it is the blatant abuse that was uncovered in last night's programme that really stinks. Especially the jumped up Chief Exec tw*t from Viagogo who intimated that hell would freeze over before the law in this country is changed.

[jump]

Is there anyway to know how MPs voted on that ticket touting bill from last year? I want to see if the guy in my borough voted it down or not and get it him to support it if it comes up again.

Edited February 24, 2012 by jump

[PurpleFire]

Watched it, the only thing that got to me was the promoters giving the sites an amount of tickets to sell for 90% profit!

The rest is just general touting and ticketmaster and other places are starting to bring in new regulations to stop it! Only alowing 2 ticket per card and adress is one this year!

[morland]

I see viagogo has shed loads of over priced blur tickets. Did it sell out in minutes?

[jump]

Watched it, the only thing that got to me was the promoters giving the sites an amount of tickets to sell for 90% profit!

The rest is just general touting and ticketmaster and other places are starting to bring in new regulations to stop it! Only alowing 2 ticket per card and adress is one this year!

[morland]

Anyone smell bullshit?

Edited February 24, 2012 by morland

[Justiceforcedave]

I think it's fucking disgusting. I hope that we get some kind of satisfactory answers from some of the companies and people implicated instead of the usual "safe way to exchange tickets" bull shit.

I think it will be up to the bands to get wheels turning.

[PurpleFire]

It was on the show that they have a wad of credit cards on hand under different names and addresses they use to by pass it that tho.

[JBarbour]

I understand all the supply and demand. But the fact that promoters, and venues are lying and allocating them tickets before genuine fans and taking a large cut from inflating the prices.

Why dont the promoters just charge a premium for better seats? Why lie?

How can viagogo defend themselves when in there offices they have credit cards to buy tickets? They say its its a fan to fan service. They had a laptop on the program with info containing the allocations that they received for events

[jump]

Is there anyway to know how MPs voted on that ticket touting bill from last year? I want to see if the guy in my borough voted it down or not and get it him to support it if it comes up again.

Edited February 24, 2012 by jump

[mblackhouse]

I can speak from a position of knowledge that venues have next to no say about allocations of tickets. The decision of who gets tickets is primarily down to the promoter of the show.

I hate this argument that 'viagogo' creates a secure safe way for fans to purchase tickets. So does the primary market!!! Why not allocate more to the primary market! Sure, we'd go back to the black market and ebay scum and the odd story of touts scamming people by not turning up to meets etc, but thats gotta be better than this situation we're in now.

Promoters and secondary sellers are in bed with one another - end of. They are falsely inflating prices for tickets. Why not just add a bit onto the primary market price if theyre that worried about making extra cash - at least it'd be a more transparent process.

The only thing I can think that'll solve it will be a cap on profits. As i said, it may create an underground blakc market again, but i'd take that over a wholesale butt fucking by the major promoters

[JBarbour]

Im at work but getting frustrated with this.

Jay and kanye's watch the throne tickets went on general sale today already 100s on viagogo. How can "fans" buy tickets and already want to resell them?

All this evidence against them yet its properly gonna be that nothing gets done about it

[PurpleFire]

Im at work but getting frustrated with this.

Jay and kanye's watch the throne tickets went on general sale today already 100s on viagogo. How can "fans" buy tickets and already want to resell them?

All this evidence against them yet its properly gonna be that nothing gets done about it

[Justiceforcedave]

By inflating the prices to vast amounts they're also encouraging real people who use Viagogo to also sell at a higher price.

I can honestly say that If I had a spare ticket for something I would sell it at face value (and have done in the past) but I'm sure if most people saw that their spare ticket has a value of £300+ they would follow suit.

[jump]

But once again, these sites are doing nothing wrong! They are providing a service for people who dont want tickets. However we can not discrimiate if the reason for selling is genuine or to make a profit! We all know its the later but we are unable to prove this!

The sites are doing nothing wrong in the eyes of the law! That is what has to change and not these sites!

[Justiceforcedave]

But once again, these sites are doing nothing wrong! They are providing a service for people who dont want tickets. However we can not discrimiate if the reason for selling is genuine or to make a profit! We all know its the later but we are unable to prove this!

The sites are doing nothing wrong in the eyes of the law! That is what has to change and not these sites!

[PurpleFire]

Although I get your point, I think the sites still know what they're doing is wrong (they said so themselves!) and it was clearly stated in the documentary that what they are doing in terms of the way they market themselves IS illegal. But yes the law needs to change because as long as they're making money, the reseller sites never will.

Edited February 24, 2012 by PurpleFire

[JBarbour]

How about the tickets that appear at over £2000. Is this a fan selling? Personally I would rather a mate have the ticket at face value and have a good time. I know making money on a ticket thats already bought to an event you can't attend is tempting but can you say your happy to rip someone off? Paying double is bad enough.

One year we received extra tickets for leeds see sent 4 instead of 2. I thought someone may have been missing 2 tickets they ordered and out of £400. So (maybe stupidly in some peoples eyes) I rang see to explain their mistake to be told dont worry about it enjoy the extra tickets. This was back in 2008 when demand was high. Was being offered over 800 for the two tickets. Just ended up taking mates with us and told them the beer was on them all weekend haha. Touting?

[PurpleFire]

That's not quite true, there's loads of false advertising going on such as Viagogo do not set prices or sell tickets which isn't the case as the vast majority of them are sold by them. It was something like 25% was actual fans selling tickets.

[JBarbour]

Why are people defending the tout scum?

[jump]

Think you find they said it was Highly Immoral not wrong!

And to the other comment above, in relation to the comment ive made about a reseller being genuine or not! Without being found guilty by the law of touting, they are allowed to sell these tickets on these sites with no reason at all!

Apart from selling tickets stright from the supplyer, any other ticket they sell is genuine and legal to what they advertise! The ones where they buy them themselves, yes they are buying them for the company but they are brought under names and adresses of the workers, who have just as much right to put these tickets on the site!

The point im making is, there is a massive flaw in these types of websites and these companies are making the most of it! Its a flaw, not breaking the law

Edited February 24, 2012 by jump

[PurpleFire]

How about the tickets that appear at over £2000. Is this a fan selling? Personally I would rather a mate have the ticket at face value and have a good time. I know making money on a ticket thats already bought to an event you can't attend is tempting but can you say your happy to rip someone off? Paying double is bad enough.

One year we received extra tickets for leeds see sent 4 instead of 2. I thought someone may have been missing 2 tickets they ordered and out of £400. So (maybe stupidly in some peoples eyes) I rang see to explain their mistake to be told dont worry about it enjoy the extra tickets. This was back in 2008 when demand was high. Was being offered over 800 for the two tickets. Just ended up taking mates with us and told them the beer was on them all weekend haha. Touting?

[mrtourette]

Why are people defending the tout scum?

[jump]

Yeah I agree they suck!