Stupidly bought tickets I can't use, does anyone see any options for me?

mlaf

....besides not being so stupid next time..

This is extremely embarrassing, but I've recently moved to the UK and live in Edinburgh and after seeing an advert for the Proms, and rushed to buy tickets to 3 shows. Hooray!

Realized this evening (2 days later) that this is actually a festival held in London..

So of course I can't attend any of these shows. Worst case I bite the bullet, not the end of the world, but I thought I'd throw it out there and see if any of you consumer rights experts have got any ideas.

The Royal Albert Hall seems to be pretty strict on refunds or resale. From their website:

Once purchased tickets cannot be exchanged, resold or refunded.


Tickets cannot be offered for sale from within the Royal Albert Hall except from the Box Office by our ticketing team.


Only tickets purchased by the Box Office or approved agents are valid for admission. Tickets sold via third parties and other unauthorised outlets, including online auction sites, are not valid for admission.


Reselling a ticket makes it void and the ticketholder may be refused entry.

So it doesn't sound promising, though it seems harsh that I'm giving no options to cancel or resell the tickets. The only other thing I can think of is that these were bought via Mastercard, do they hold any responsibility in this purchase? ..not that I want to pass the buck.. just curious I suppose..

I'm going to give them a ring tomorrow and ask them directly if there's anything I can do with the tickets. Gonna go do this now :wall:

thanks!

hcb42

Why would mastercard have to pay for your error?

Not sure why you cannot pass them on though - Providing you have the actual tickets, someone might want to go, I recently sold two take that tickets, and equally bought two peter kay tickets from different people, it happens all the time.

Unintentional

Think the only option is to sell them on or accept the loss I'm afraid.

mountainofdebt

Well it might be a way to travel but there's nothing really stopping you in spending a few days in London and go to the concert.

The only other solution would be to ring up the Royal Albert Hall and ask them if they will sell them for you.

mlaf

yeah, I guess I was taking their statement that I can't resell the tickets too seriously. I suppose they can't truly know that they've been resold. I think I'll still try to get in touch with them. Ok well, thanks for opinions, sorry I made you spend time on my idiocy! Appreciate it.

mountainofdebt

Be careful though - there was a post on here recently where somebody was being chased after selling tickets for wimbledon.

I sold tickets a for a concert but I sold them for the face value as I knew that if I sold them for a profit then there was a possibility that the tickets would be cancelled.

halibut2209

But the wimbledon case was entirely different as the only possible repercussion was the poster's tennis club not being given tickets in the future. In this case I would pay no heed to that.

I'd also not worry as classical music (sadly) is not exactly a desperate demand, so go ahead and resell. You probably won't get face value, but you will recoup something.

Norfolk_Jim

You can legally sell on your tickets at a company called Seatwave.com
They are appointed by a lot of concert venues and football clubs as a means for fans to exchange tickets at face value - though you'll get a little less than face after they take their fee. I have sold premier league football tickets through them. I see they are dealing in tickets for the proms both buying and selling.

mlaf

Yes! Brilliant stuff Norfolk_Jim! I will absolutely be utilizing that site. Fingers crossed someone selects my tickets!

I feel better already!

Seems like quite a useful site for ticket purchases as well I might add!

mlaf

Great news!

I managed to get a refund, so I thought I'd update this thread in case it helps anyone else.

I have tickets to tonight's performance, but said tickets are at the box office for pick up. I noticed this morning that the concert was fully booked so I swallowed my pride and gave them a call. The lady was very helpful and because the performance was fully booked - offered a full refund!!

They don't advertise this, but give them a try if it turns out you can't go and you notice the concert is all booked up.

Of note, they need to physically have the tickets, so this was easy as they already did. If they've posted the tickets to you, you need to call them and then post them back so you'd need at least a few days before the concert.