ViaGoGo - The "official" 7's scalper....

[shri]

Article about Viagogo on The Guardian...

From the 7's website...

viagogo is the Official Ticket Marketplace for The Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens. International fans can purchase tickets in 40+ local languages and payment methods. Fans can also sell their tickets on the official marketplace when they can no longer attend the event.

Viagogo’s apparent brazenness has been breathtaking and, so far, it’s managed to profit with impunity.

In April the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) threatened it with legal action for failing to comply with its demands that it make its pricing more transparent.

A month later, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) reported it to National Trading Standards for similar defiance.

The company has been cocking a snook at regulators since 2015 when the CMA ordered it to display the face value of tickets it was reselling. It didn’t. In 2017 the ASA told it to make its exorbitant fees and delivery charges clear at the start of the transaction. It didn’t.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/20...delivery-costs

[HowardCoombs]

Until recently, the final cost price of a ticket, including Viagogo’s fees, did not appear until the completion stages when customers were about to pay – resulting in some overlooking the total.

*shrug*
The site tells you what you are about to pay
You pay
Where exactly is the problem?

[toni_celin]

I bought tickets for Guns n Roses from ViaGoGo last June (don't know the original face value as this is the only site I can purchase the tickets). But Last April of this year also, I tried buying "Kooza" Cirque du Soleil ticket from them and found out that they were charging 10% more compared to the AsiaBoxOffice or if you buy it direct from the site ticketing booth.

[tinlissie]

*shrug*
The site tells you what you are about to pay
You pay
Where exactly is the problem?

I would have agreed with you because that is what happens on every other website I've used but I realised that this one was different when I almost bought a Bob Dylan ticket earlier.

Throughout the process, I was bombarded with messages saying that the clock was ticking and if I didn't complete the purchase within what started as 5 minutes, I would lose the ticket. Once I had selected the ticket, I then had to put in my name and address details. It then went through a section saying that it would have to be couriered - fine. Then I checked the address - fine.

All the time, the price was displayed in very small font in the top left-hand corner of the screen. That is the price of the ticket (with the mark-up on top of face value) and then the $200 delivery fee.

It was still saying the same price when I was asked to put in my credit card details. The website indicated that after this, I would be able to review the order before finally committing. The problem was, as I entered my card details, the page scrolled down and the price became hidden further up the screen.

When I clicked to review, I was only shown a pop-up with the details of the ticket that I was about to buy but MINUS the final price. Remember, all this time, the website kept warning me that time was running out. I scrolled back to the top left-hand corner and in small font, I could see that they had added their booking fee of $699 on top! As I was already at the final stage, if I had clicked any further, I would have been none the wiser until I received my credit card bill.

Of course, I expect to pay more than face value, especially for such a popular gig but to make the delivery fee clear from such an early stage (which is normally the last item to appear) and not the booking fee is not right. It's easy to understand how people feel cheated. $699 is no small amount and if you're buying several tickets, it really does make a difference.

[shri]

More in The Guardian

Members of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee were due to grill Viagogo on business practices that have made it the subject of political and regulatory scrutiny in recent years.

But the Switzerland-based firm informed the committee at 11pm on Tuesday that its head of business development, Cristopher Miller, would not attend Wednesday’s hearing.

Committee chair Damian Collins said Viagogo's absence was part of a “pattern of evasion, disrespectful to the house and disrespectful to consumers”.

“If you've got nothing to hide, the truth will do you no harm," he said, adding: "If you want to be safe, do not buy tickets from Viagogo.”

https://www.theguardian.com/business...ss-discourtesy

[shri]

The letter has 24 signatories, including a host of MPs, trade bodies and associations from the worlds of sports, theatre and music.

Sporting bodies that have signed include the Football Association, England and Wales Cricket Board, Rugby Football Union and Lawn Tennis Association.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/20...go-advertising