Warning about Ticketmaster Gift card limitation

Ainsley1

Gift cards from Tickemaster seem to have not very obvious limitations.

It may be said that I should be aware of the time limitation (1 year from purchase and I am) but as the card is a gift I'm was not sure when the time will expire. However, nearing the end of the time period I have found an event through the Ticketmaster web site that I wished tickets for. It happens to be under the Ticketmaster Sport menu and is in fact a Rugby 6 Nations match. I was aware that tickets went on sale for a new release tranche so got in soon to find if I could afford any with the support of my gift card. However I find that Ticketmaster redirects to what they seem to term (so I found out subsequently) a "Partner" site for booking and that GIFT CARDS CANNOT BE USED. It is fairly essential that the seat allocation site is used so that available seats can be seen and at what price and, knowing the venue, if they will be under cover. I am elderly so do not wish to be exposed to the elements! I doubt if a Ticketmaster phone booking would have been a good idea in this instance.

As that Rugby was my main ticket interest and the time expiry period must be soon now and there is nothing else advertised that does interest me in my locality this could (most probably will) render my card valueless. I could not even purchase the tickets and pay the whole cost myself being retired and on a tight budget plus these tickets sell out quickly.

I have had a look at the FAQs and around the web site but have found no reference to this 'Partner' limitation and have been informed by a Ticketmaster representative (after several charged phone calls) that cards are only valid for "Ticketmaster Events". I do not know which these event are (they do not seem to be very obvious on the web site from what I have seen) but it is certainly not everything shown/linked to on their website.

It might be useful if somebody else can clarify further for all readers. I might be getting on a bit but I could not even see how to redeem the card against tickets online. Does one have to phone for tickets when using a gift card and therefore get charged even more?

Overall poor show Ticketmaster. I have sent them a complaint but doubt if I will get a satisfactory response!! If I do I will post again here.

ostrichnomore_2

Hi

I just looked at all the Rugby listings on the Ticketmaster site and it is very clear which are direct from them and which are from partner sites. Where you click to 'find tickets' it either says just
'find tickets'
or
'find tickets' with 'on partner site' right underneath it.

I don't see why you are having problems finding which events are which.

Ainsley1

Thanks for pointing that out, Ostrichnomore. I had certainly missed it initially.

I must admit to not realising that there were two uses for Ticketmaster. One to buy for a Ticketmaster Event and the other as basically advertising with links to other events.

I see now the difference and the original purpose of this email was to highlight the issue for others. You have now added further clarification which is good.


I still have concerns about the way the info is presented. "Find Tickets" is highlighted in bold and vivid Cyan colour. Where a partner is involved the 'link' arrows are still next to the "Find Ticket" words, the "on Partner site" is underneath, smaller and greyed thus making it less obvious.

Nevertheless I accept that Ticketmaster have the right to advertise events and provide links to them. The main concern is lack of clarity and that what they term Ticketmaster Events and non Ticketmaster events is not obvious nor explained (as far as I have seen) and giftcards are only valid for the former. How do we know which are Ticketmaster Events? Now perhaps we can infer, those without the little grey text underneath, or so it seems! I doubt that Ticketmaster run all the events that seem to be listed as "theirs" and I fail to see explained on the web site that giftcards cannot be used only with "Ticketmaster Events". What sort of partnership is that?

I have, since my first post, had an apology from Ticketmaster and the offer to refund my giftcard value. So well done them.

They also state that there is no mention of Ticketmaster on the partner site. That is incorrect as it both says "Powered by Ticketmaster" and "Copyright Ticketmaster" on the partner's ticket selection page.

Perhaps it is just not clear enough initially for doddery old fogies like me but I still live and learn. Obviously I did not buy the giftcard but I wonder if the limitation (because that's all it is) is identified clearly when the purchase is made and that all the apparent offerings of tickets cannot be taken up using a giftcard?

ostrichnomore_2

Glad it worked out well for you with the refund.

Pontoon

I've just fallen foul of this issue with Ticketmaster too. We get a present from a family friend at christmas each year of £20 ticketmaster giftcard. We try and get tickets to our local venue (O2 Academy in Newcastle) and we get taken to Ticketweb to buy our tickets, so can't redeem the value of the card. We have 2 cards we've been unable to redeem and now at least one of them has expired.

On top of this, I decided to contact them using their online form and every 2 seconds a pop up would appear over the text box, covering my text with "FAQ help" and questions which might be useful to me... NOT. You close it and it pops up again shortly after. That managed to bring my ire up from mildly irritated to absolutely fuming!

My main issue is that you have no real way of filtering what is ticketmaster and what is partner site events. I still don't think I have any way short of trawling manually trying to find a link to something I might like that we can use them on. I actually am beginning to wonder if it is some form of scam. At the very least I think I have worked out that all O2 Academy Newcastle events appear to be ticketweb.

Pontoon

Well their customer service is pretty prompt though they say it might take 48 hours to get back and they have offered me a refund in the form of a cheque, which may take up to 8 weeks, or new giftcard for the expired one. However if I take the giftcard they take £2 off the value to "cover postage" I have 2 cards (one expired, one in date) neither of which I've been able to use as all local gigs appear to be ticketweb events, so it is pointless me having these giftcards.

I have requested a refund for both of the cards. I'm going to wait and see what happens. Fingers crossed I get a nice £40 cheque which will cover the money I'm forking now out to go see the Dead Kennedys in August

Ainsley1

Glad to hear you too have a resolution

.... but it is annoying that Ticketmaster still do not seem to be making it clear enough. I wonder if your gift card purchaser was aware of the limitation (it is a big one) when they bought the card. Mine certainly wasn't.

To give then due credit, they did give me a refund well within their offered time scale. It hardly made up for missing the event i wished to see, though.

Pontoon

latest response.

"Thanks for your reply.
For the card that's expired, I would be happy to issue a cheque for the full £20 but as for the card that is still active, we can issue a cheque refund for it if you’re unable to use it.. However this is subject to a £7.50 admin fee in line with the gift card terms of purchase and must be requested before the card expires at the end of December 2014. The cheque can take up to 8 weeks to arrive too.
If this is fine with you, I will arrange a cheque for £32.50 to be sent as soon as possible.

Best wishes,"


??? I can't believe they can basically do a full refund for the expired card but charge me over 1/3 of the value in "admin" fees on the one which is still current.

Ainsley1

I didn't get charged any fee.
Perhaps that's because it was close to it's expiry date (a few weeks) and I said I have searched and the only event of interest close to me I could not buy!
I would go back and argue with them. Good luck.

wealdroam

Pontoon wrote: »

??? I can't believe they can basically do a full refund for the expired card but charge me over 1/3 of the value in "admin" fees on the one which is still current.

Maybe leave the still current card for the moment, and ask for a full refund of it when it has expired.

Pontoon

wealdroam wrote: »

Maybe leave the still current card for the moment, and ask for a full refund of it when it has expired.

Great minds...

I have asked for the expired card to be refunded and I will set a reminder on my calendar for when the other one expires to get that back.