NHS Concert Tickets (Free but maybe not so free)

astra948

Hi

I am on a web site that gives out concert tickets to NHS staff...   You ask for your name to be put in a ballot and if you are one of the lucky ones, you may win the tickets.  As I understand it, your application for tickets must go through a nhs e-mail address.

The tickets are free but there is an admin fee associated with the purchase/winning. 

I was lucky enough to win/purchase some tickets the other day and so admin fees were added to my credit card.  However, I didn't realise that to have the tickets you must go through a process of accepting that you actually want the them.   Your account shows that you have won the tickets but you haven't really as you haven't accepted them.  I can only accept the tickets via my works email.

As I wasn't in work I could accept the tickets for a few days.  When I went to accept the ticket,  I was then informed that the period for accepting them had expired and they had been put back in the ballot.   

So my questions are this....

If I have won the tickets then why do I need to accept them?  I wouldn't have applied for them if I didn't want them.

But possibly more importantly.... if they have taken the admin fee then doesn't this imply that I now own those tickets. If they want me to accept the tickets then it shouldn't  it be at that point they take the admin fee.

The admin fee is non-refundable so in this scenario they would have taken then admin fee and then taken back the tickets or taken the offer of having them back. 

Cheers
Mark

user1977

What's the site?

Okell

I'm a member of the Lawn Tennis Association and I take part in their ballot each year to get tickets for wimbledon.

If you win tickets in the ballot you are clearly told whan you are notified that you have to accept them within a certain period of time, otherwise they go back into the ballot.

Are you saying you weren't told that you still had to accept the tickets when you were told you'd won them?

I don't think paying what is described as an admin fee makes any difference.

Zinger549

The BBC do this with tickets to shows/radio recordings. If you're successful you have to show your confirmation email at the venue. They then scan the barcode and give you a token or sticker which gives you entry. As the tickets are free some people will apply and then forget about it. So they send out more confirmation emails than tickets available.

lisyloo

"If I have won the tickets then why do I need to accept them?  I wouldn't have applied for them if I didn't want them."

Depending on the time period, some people may have made other plans or got sick or circumstances changed.
Most people wouldn't keep their diary free for this kind of thing.

user1977

Is this related to the "seat-filling" arrangements I've heard of, where they try to pack out unpopular gigs? Obviously their aim is to find people who will actually turn up...

Aylesbury_Duck

astra948 said:

  

So my questions are this....

If I have won the tickets then why do I need to accept them?  I wouldn't have applied for them if I didn't want them.

But possibly more importantly.... if they have taken the admin fee then doesn't this imply that I now own those tickets. If they want me to accept the tickets then it shouldn't  it be at that point they take the admin fee.

The admin fee is non-refundable so in this scenario they would have taken then admin fee and then taken back the tickets or taken the offer of having them back. 

Cheers
Mark

1.  If the terms of the ballot are such that you need to accept them, then those are the terms you need to adhere to.  Do they say that?

2.i. Not really, and anyway, implying is imprecise.  You'd need to look at the terms and conditions again.
   ii. As above.

astra948

I think this would be the relevant terms and condition

1. If you are successful in a ballot you are notified by email and at that point, the non-refundable ballot admin fee is charged. You then have a period of time in which to either accept or reject the tickets. This is usually 48 hours but can often vary by event. Specific details on each claim period will be provided on your winners email. Once you accept your tickets you are then sent further details on how to claim and/or redeem your tickets. If you do not respond within the specified timeframe your tickets are automatically rejected. This allows us to then offer them out to those on the waiting list. Please note - if you choose to reject your tickets or your offer period auto-times out, the ballot win fee remains applicable.

So they are asking you to accept, at the time you enter the ballot, a set of terms and condition which you only know about once you have won i.e. they have sent you an email to your works email with those terms and conditions.   In my case, I had two days to accept them, but they seem free to say it could be 1, it could 5 days.  This information is not available at the time of entering the ballot. 

If the confirmation went to my home email address then it wouldn't be such an issue but it goes to a work email address.   So I would need to go to work each day just to check my emails to accept the tickets within their timeframe.

How long do the Lawn Tennis Association give you to accept the tickets?

I keep my diary free for those events, or until the ballot is drawn,  as I really want to attend the events. 

photome

those seem perfectly reasonable terms to me

otherwise people could apply for tickets get them for free plus admin and then not use them which would not be fair

It’s also a privilege because you work for NHS so perfectly reasonable that they get sent to your work email

astra948

those seem perfectly reasonable terms to me
otherwise people could apply for tickets get them for free plus admin and then not use them which would not be fair

I have always attended if I have won.  I totally agree that getting the tickets and not using would be unfair and that's why your account can be suspended if that's what you're doing.   Also, I can accept the tickets and choose not to attend, which I wouldn't do as that would be unfair.

born_again

We have ballots like this at work for tickets. Amazing the number of people that enter, but never end up going.