Problem with purchasing resale tickets from Ticketmaster (UK) - can you help?

Will_d

Today I attempted to purchase two tickets from Ticketmaster for a relative of mine.

 

She wanted to sit in a particular area of the arena, and the only available tickets within that section were labelled "resale".  Three available seats situated side-by-side were coloured in purple.  The standard tickets (not resale), situated elsewhere in the arena, were coloured in blue.

 

I intended to purchase two of the three seemingly available resale tickets.  As I began the process, I realised that I had to purchase each ticket individually (although it is possible to purchase multiple standard tickets in the same transaction).  Despite this inconvenience, I proceeded to buy the first ticket.  I then intended to purchase one of the remaining two resale tickets straight after.

 

However, upon completion of the first transaction, I returned to the same seating area to make the second purchase only to discover that the other resale tickets (that appeared to be available five minutes previously) were now unavailable.

 

As a result, I am now left with only one ticket, unable to buy an adjacent seat in addition.

 

Perhaps the other two resale seats simply sold out within that short window of time.  But did I misunderstand the way the tickets were displayed?  In other words, does Ticketmaster display more resale tickets than are actually available in a given seating area?

 

Because it is nearly impossible to contact Ticketmaster directly (I can't even open a direct chat yet because the purchase is still being processed and will not be confirmed as an order until 48 hours have elapsed), I contacted my bank to see if they could block the transaction.  They told me to check with Ticketmaster on whether the tickets were correctly displayed.  But I doubt the bank will be able to do anything at this point.

 

Any advice on how to resolve this dilemma will be much appreciated.  Given the ambiguity surrounding the purchase of resale tickets, and the impossibility of speaking to a living breathing person from Ticketmaster, it is highly unlikely I will ever use the website again.

 

Nevertheless, I am eager to get the order refunded, if possible, or find another way of having two adjacent seats for the event.

 

Cheers

Aylesbury_Duck

Will_d said:

Today I attempted to purchase two tickets from Ticketmaster for a relative of mine.

 

She wanted to sit in a particular area of the arena, and the only available tickets within that section were labelled "resale".  Three available seats situated side-by-side were coloured in purple.  The standard tickets (not resale), situated elsewhere in the arena, were coloured in blue.

 

I intended to purchase two of the three seemingly available resale tickets.  As I began the process, I realised that I had to purchase each ticket individually (although it is possible to purchase multiple standard tickets in the same transaction).  Despite this inconvenience, I proceeded to buy the first ticket.  I then intended to purchase one of the remaining two resale tickets straight after.

 

However, upon completion of the first transaction, I returned to the same seating area to make the second purchase only to discover that the other resale tickets (that appeared to be available five minutes previously) were now unavailable.

 

As a result, I am now left with only one ticket, unable to buy an adjacent seat in addition.

 

Perhaps the other two resale seats simply sold out within that short window of time.  But did I misunderstand the way the tickets were displayed?  In other words, does Ticketmaster display more resale tickets than are actually available in a given seating area?

 

Because it is nearly impossible to contact Ticketmaster directly (I can't even open a direct chat yet because the purchase is still being processed and will not be confirmed as an order until 48 hours have elapsed), I contacted my bank to see if they could block the transaction.  They told me to check with Ticketmaster on whether the tickets were correctly displayed.  But I doubt the bank will be able to do anything at this point.

 

Any advice on how to resolve this dilemma will be much appreciated.  Given the ambiguity surrounding the purchase of resale tickets, and the impossibility of speaking to a living breathing person from Ticketmaster, it is highly unlikely I will ever use the website again.

 

Nevertheless, I am eager to get the order refunded, if possible, or find another way of having two adjacent seats for the event.

 

Cheers

Presumably you can just sell them back to Ticketmaster?  After all, that's surely how they ended up on sale in the first place?  It's entirely plausible that a pair of tickets were sold in the short window between your first and second attempted purchase.

Will_d

Aylesbury_Duck said:

Presumably you can just sell them back to Ticketmaster?  After all, that's surely how they ended up on sale in the first place?  It's entirely plausible that a pair of tickets were sold in the short window between your first and second attempted purchase.

I will attempt that once the purchase has been confirmed, but I think I read somewhere that resale purchases cannot be sold again.  I'll find out soon enough.