Ticketweb woes

katyk_2

Hi

I am in a quandry and pretty sure I will be unable to reclaim any money but wondered if anyone had ever tried appealing to ticketwebs good nature with any success. My 18yo daughter is a MASSIVE Ben Howard fan and I recently glued myself to my computer one Friday morning in the mad rush to try for tickets for one of his December shows. We are Aberdeen based but they all sold out in minutes nearer to home, although I was able to get 2 for one of his Brixton dates. Pretty expensive when you have to include travel and accommodation, esp for a student who only works a few hours in Asda each week, but she was delighted and started to lay money aside. Disaster struck when the pal she persuade to go with her had to drop out last week (new job-can't get the time off). My first though was we would sell them on ebay but it turns out they are non-transferable and cannot be sold. She has no-one else to go with and I am not happy about her heading down there alone . Next plan was to request a refund-I had taken out the insurance. No go unless she is dying or all public transport has ceased. Worst part was that I read the tickets more carefully and it turns out the named party leader (I had foolishly put down my name as I assumed it would have to be the name linked to the credit card making the booking) HAS to be one of the party there!! She and her pal could have gone all the way to London and been turned away because I did not go. I have spoken to them at length and they just stonewall me - it would have popped up on the screen that the main ticket holder had to go and I must have clicked to OK it. Not only does the credit card it was booked on have to be produced (I would have been happy to let her take it with her if necessary) but she has to produce photo ID to prove she is the person named on said card at the gate! I feel this is really unfair - it would totally rule out the possibility ofsomeone buying tickets as a gift for someone else. Ticketweb say this has been requested by the people they are selling on behalf of ie Ben Howards people, and that not all gigs would demand I actually be there. There is simply no way I can afford to go too so she will lose even the face value of the tickets (about £65 for the 2 - feels she cannot charge her friend as it was her who persuaded her and she had bought the tickets before seeing who could go with her)

Ticketweb say this is to ensure only true fans get to see the show. This is a show which was a complete sell out on less than 20 minutes and is still almost 5 weeks away! There is no way they could not resell those tickets instantly. All this means is that two sold places, which could have been occupied by genuine fans, will now stand empty. Apparently all ticket web tickets are sold on a no-return/refund basis

Sorry, I know I am ranting but I am just so mad I cannot help her to even just get her money back. I am a middle aged mum not used to buying gig tickets - is this really the norm? Can anyone suggest anything I can do to help her out?

Thanks
Katyk

paddyrg

The whole tickets/ID thing is to stop touts who would drive the prices even higher and meant you never even got a look in!

But as to what she can do - sounds like you need to go with her?? Maybe you'll enjoy it ;-)

katyk_2

paddyrg wrote: »

The whole tickets/ID thing is to stop touts who would drive the prices even higher and meant you never even got a look in!

But as to what she can do - sounds like you need to go with her?? Maybe you'll enjoy it ;-)

I would love to-his music is super. But I could never afford the travel and accommodation so close to xmas I'm afraid