VIAGOGO REFUNDED ME AFTER SMALL CLAIMS CASE, COPY BEFORE gets DELETE IT

AreYaGettingBored

MSE REMOVED OTHER POST WHERE SOMEONE EXPLAINED HIS/HER EXPERIENCE TO GET VIAGOGO GIVE THEIR MONEY BACK, SO HERE IS MY EXPERIENCE.

KEEP DELETING AND I´LL KEEP POSTING IT BACK   

Dear all,

We all know Viagogo were not refunding illegaly money from us and being very uncourteous with all customers, pushing them to buy tickets giving false information about tickets availability

It seems difficul to get your money back under their illegal T&C´s for some time, even more when "the company is not based in the UK".....but.....are you sure? Nope, in fact, the company trades and has UK base in London, however apparently under a different name to avoid "prossecution" from customers via Small Claims Court but here I am to give you a hand about how I did get my money back!!!!!!!!!

First of all:

This is for cases were you feel you´ve been scammed by Viagogo as for some time they were not complying with the CMA regulations so they were increasing the prices if you relist your ticket and they were giving false information about tickets availability....

So First step:

Contact them, ask for a refund and your reasons, ask to review with management stating you reserve your right to take legal actions. Then they should reply you saying their final word is they cant refund you...

Second Step:

Send to them via email what´s called a LETTER NOTICE BEFORE ACTION NOTIFICATION, something like:

“““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““EXAMPLE OF A LETTER-EMAIL:

Reference: purchase refund (your purchase number)

Dear customer service team,

It has not been possible to resolve this matter amicably, and it is apparent that court action may be necessary, I write in compliance with the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct.

-I consider my tickets purchased on the (DATE)  where purchased with false information, giving me misleading information about the popularity of the tickets which lead me to rush to make the purchase. It showed "2 tickets remain" before and after my purchase (OR OTHER REASONS YOU MAY THINK AND KNOW WHY YOU ARE ENTITLED TO A REFUND).

-You stated and adversited it´s easy to get money back when things go wrong under viagogo´s guarantee.

-I had no information provided about who sold to me my ticket after my purchase.

-I feel I was not provided full upfront terms and conditionsof the tickets, including relevant details about restriction, including about resale.

-I contacted you in several ocassions (via email and phone call or letter or whatever) because I noticed you were relisting my tickets with a price above the one that I set up, avoiding to give me the opportunity to resell my tickets. (if applicable)

From you I am claiming a full refund of my purchase XXX.XX sterling pounds.

I have calculated this sum without including a compensation for all the distress you have caused me without being able to help me and without complying with the contractual term of "resale of the tickets at the price that you chooose" adverted.

Listed below are the documents on which I intend to rely in my claim against you:

-emails with customer services

-calls log

-screenshots

-letters......you can list your "evidence"

In accordance with the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct I would request that you provide me with scanned copies of the following documents:

-customer service requests I made to you from FIRST DAY OR MONTH to LAST TIME YOU CONTACTED. Including, but not excluded to, phone calls, register of information requested, claims and outcome from each customer service advisor to me.

I can confirm that I would be agreeable to mediation and would consider any other system of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in order to avoid the need for this matter to be resolved by the courts. 

I would invite you to put forward any proposals in this regard. 

In closing, I would draw your attention to paragraphs 15 and 16 of the Practice Direction which gives the courts the power to impose sanctions on the parties if they fail to comply with the direction including failing to respond to this letter before claim. 

I look forward to hearing from you within the next 28 days. 

Should I not receive a response to my email within this time frame, then I anticipate that court action will be commenced with no further reference to you.

Yours faithfully,

YOUR NAME

“““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““

Then you have to give them 28 days to reply to you. It´s likely they reply earlier stating again they are not keen to refund you as a final decision.

So at this point, you CAN START THE SMALL CLAIMS COURT PROCESS

This is a tricky part, because you have to put company name and address.

In my case I put "VIAGOGO UK",and the address......... hehehe

As mentioned, there is media articles stating  Viagogo office are in 71 Fenchurch St in London, but apparently they changed the address and also that they change the name to VGL.......

(        theguardian.com/money/2017/jul/20/mps-threatened-with-arrest-after-protest-at-viagogo-office         )

Just simply google "VGL companies house" and you´ll find the VGL address...which it doesnt show it is 71 FENCHURCH hehehe......ITS MAGIC THE PUBLIC INFO ISN´T?   ......companieshouse.gov.uk/company/07882020 Don´t forget their address may be familiar with you at a later point, who knows...?

Having that into account, I didn´t know what address to put...I thought maybe they change offices address and name to avoid proseccution and demostrations at their main office, SO IN MY CASE I PUT THE 71 FERCHURCH ST ADDRESS  

'''DO NOT FORGET TO CLAIM INTEREST RATE"""

YOU CAN PUT ANOTHER AMOUNT BUT THE COURT WILL DECIDE.

You´ll have to state reasons for your claim, for example:

-I think I'm entitled of a cancellation of my purchase and a full refund because I consider I bought my tickets in a pushed and rushed way, due to the information that Viagogo was providing to me that 3 tickets left when that  wasn't true. I feel I was pushed to make a decision based on misleading information. After the purchase I didn't received any information about the tickets seller. 

-Initially they advised me to relist my tickets but I realised after a while, they were not publishing my tickets at the price that I set up, breaking what they advertise and their own terms and conditions.

-That process caused me anxiety and stress and I started to have difficult to sleep thinking about how to get my money back. I felt undervalued and scammed by this company. It was difficult to me to decide to call a last time to request my money back and talk to them about my rights as a customer. I considered the mediation service but on a email  from viagogo, they stated the decision of no cancel my purchase is "final".

ALSO YOU´LL HAVE TO PUT DATES OF EVENTS (calls, emails, letters to them...) depending of your case, FOR EXAMPLE:

12-1-2021 - I bought a ticket through Viagogo website for The Beatles for 65.70 pounds, during the tickets search process they stated it was the only ticket left at this price.

13-1-2021 - I regret of my purchase because after it, I realised they were more tickets at the same price I bought, so I felt scammed about my purchase. I felt the way the tickets were promoted urged me to take the decision to buy them.

14-1-2021 - I contacted Viagogo via phone but they refused to provide me a refund despite I stated to them I feel scammed and they lied to me. They advised me to put on resell my tickets (NOT ADVISABLE FROM CUSTOMER´S RIGHTS PERSPECTIVE). Also I informed they were not complying with the CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) because at this time in my case they were not and even in other countries they were condemned to ammends their T&C and tickets availability promotions.

18-1-2021 - I send them an email complaining they were a liars and I wanted a refund. Even more (in case you did as in my case), I observed my tickets were not placed at the price I put, they increased the price I put, which constituted a violation of their own T&C´s. 

28-1-2021 - I contacted them via email again as I didn´t receive a reply from my last email where i requested another refund.

7-2-2021 - I send them a letter email before action notification.

8-2-2021 - They replied my email their final decision is not to refund me.

14-2-2021 - Small claims court process started.

BY THE WAY ALSO CONSIDER CONTACT CMA AND REPORT THE SITUATION Their email is: secondary.tickets@cma.gsi.gov.uk 

So after the SMALL CLAIMS COURT process started there are 15 days window period. Just wait.

The Small claims court will notify to VGL/Viagogo UK about the process started.

After 15 days I didn´t get any information or notification, so going into your Small claims court account online will allow you automatically after those 15 days, and allowed me to ENFORCE A JUDGMENT. So, I did

While I waited for the Judgment outcome I received a letter from Viagogo´s solicitors services (shame they were even out of the 15 days window period after the small claims process) lol.

Basically they confirmed they were contacting me on behalf Viagogo, and about my claim. They complained "VIAGOGO UK" doesn´t exist and the address was not correct.

Yes, hold your laugh please,  "VIAGOGO UK" doesn´t exist and the address I put on the Small Claim process "was not the right one"... So............How come their solicitors contacted me????!!!!!! hahahahahaha If you send a letter to a wrong person to the wrong address a reply FROM THEM should never arrive.

So, at this point I realised I took the right way and I decided to wait for the Enforced Judgment outcome.

""""VERY IMPORTANT: ONCE YOU RECEIVE A LETTER OR COMMUNICATION FROM THEIR SOLICITORS, IT´S FORBIDDEN YOU CONTACT YOUR DEFENDANT DIRECTLY. SO IN MY CASE I WAS NOT ALLOWED TO CONTACT VIAGOGO ANYMORE. ANY COMMUNICATION YOU WANT SHOULD BE DONE VIA THEIR SOLICITOR"""""""""

So as I mentioned, I waited for the Enforced Judgment outcome, which came to my favour Included my tickets amount, a percentage of interest plus the Small Claims fee i think they were around 35 pounds.

Obviously I wanted to inform them about the outcome (the small claim court does, but I wanted to make sure).

So I made a copy of the letter of the Enforced Judgment outcome and I send a letter to their solicitors TRACKED AND SIGNED As I said I didn´t send just a copy of the outcome, I send a letter as a reply of acknowledge of their "point of view" about the address and company name on the claim hehe and stating again they didn´t comply with the CMA regulations. 

I sent a letter to where and to who wrote me as "their" solicitors stating:

-With your letter your are making me aware Viagogo has knowledge of my claim despite my claim was addressed to the "wrong address?"

-There is evidence on the media that Viagogo trades under the name of VGL in the UK, so problably they use both addresses the one in 71 Fenchurch St and the other in the address of VGL as per companies house is 78 Cannon St, both in London.

-Also I made aware of the following points that by the time of my letter:

On 27 November 2018 the CMA secured a court order against viagogo instructing it to comply with consumer protection law.

In summary the court order, which is legally binding, required viagogo to overhaul the way it does business by mid-January 2019.  In particular, Viagogo was required to ensure that any new ticket listed for resale on its websites will include information about:

-whether there is a risk that the ticket buyer will be turned away at the door

-which seat in the venue they will get

-the identity of the seller if it is a business – so that people can benefit from enhanced legal rights when buying from businesses

Viagogo was also required to make changes to its processes to:

-prevent customers being misled by messages about the availability and popularity of tickets

-make it easier for customers to get their money back under its guarantee when things go wrong – avoiding the risk of consumers’ claims being rejected unfairly

-ensure certain customers who made claims under viagogo’s guarantee but didn’t get their money back will receive refunds if they were entitled to them. The court order also ensures that viagogo does not repeat historic failures to make its customers aware of the face value of tickets on sale through its site.

-On 24 January 2019, following our initial checks, the CMA identified serious concerns that Viagogo has not complied with important aspects of the court order we secured against them. 

-Attached a copy of the County Court Judgment I requested the payment of the stated amount within the next 30 days via BACS and if not I reserved my right to proceed with other legal procedures.

Signed and sent TRACKED and SIGNED as a proof!!!!!!:)

I ordered a Warrant of Control, which a few weeks later was approved, so bailiffs were ordered to get there. I kept calling every 2 weeks to know when they will go or to get an update with no clear date when they will visit the defendant. So at the end, sick of all the process, Christimas time enlighted my mind and I decided to contact the solicitor´s of my scammers in order to pursue a friendly reconsideration of their outcome (which was no refund), the person stated they informed me already that this company didn´t have a trading address or name in the UK, which I rebated asking how come they as a solicitor contacted me on behalf of the defendant if they don´t have an address and name in the UK where I sent my claim previously? I stated as I´m aware that company has a trading name, despite different in the UK, and the address is on the media, I have my entirely right to contact in the UK address instead the main company address (which it is outside UK so I wouldn´t be able to use Small Claims court services). Also I mentioned to continue pursueing legal actions if no agreement of refund apart from the bailiffs... The gentleman didn´t know what to answer to that question, I´m not sure if the bailiffs arrived or even if they were aware of a bailiff´s visit were on track...

Not sure if the bailiffs arrived or not because is a process really slow, however a month later I called the CC to follow up the process and they confirm the money was recovered A few weeks later I have received now finally my cheque!!!!!!!!!! It´s hard but not impossible!!!!!!!!!