Action News Troubleshooters: Eagles fans beware of ticket re-seller

ByNydia Han WPVI logo

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Troubleshooters: Online ticket warnings: Nydia Han reports on Action News at 6 p.m., October 22, 2018.

Despite all the gnashing of teeth after Sunday's Eagles game, there are still a lot of fans making arrangements to go to London for next week's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

But the Action News Troubleshooters have a warning about an online ticket reseller who claims to have tickets.

And it's doubly concerning that this online reseller is still offering tickets because a local couple tells Action News this same company failed to deliver the tickets the couple paid for last spring!

Louise Arnold and Ty McGilberry are shaking their heads about Viagogo.

They paid the ticket reseller hundreds of dollars to attend the Eagles game in London.

They said they bought the tickets in April and were really looking forward to the trip.

They received an email saying "Congratulations!" and that their tickets would be delivered in the week leading up to the event.

And for these Birds fans, the game represents a merging of cultures.

Ty is a native Philadelphian, while Louise is originally from across the pond.

"So to know that they were going to play at Wimberley in London and we were going to be able to go was so exciting," Louise said.

The couple says they were directed to buy their tickets from Viagogo from the NFL website.

"We thought we were doing the right thing. The sanctioned, recommended, approved thing," said Louise.

But this past Friday, just one week before their trip, a huge disappointment.

"I felt sick. Like the bottom crashed out of my world," said Louise. "I was like how am I going to tell Ty, because it said 'Sorry - haven't got your tickets. Here's a refund and a voucher.

The email says: "Viagogo relies on individual sellers to provide the tickets that they are selling... In this case, we were informed they are not able to provide your tickets... We attempted to find replacement tickets but we were unable to locate any."

"There's no way to say it's OK," said Louise. "I feel cheated and they're still selling tickets to this day. That's ridiculous!"

Their advice about Viagogo: "I would say stay away," said Ty.

Viagogo did not comment on this particular situation, but the NFL sure did, saying it is not affiliated with the ticket reseller and is investigating.

And after the Troubleshooters alerted the NFL to Ty and Louise's story, it is now giving the couple two tickets to attend the London game.

The NFL released the following statement regarding the incident:

"Sorry, but we are not affiliated with Viagogo"

Viagogo pointed Action News to the following information from its FAQ page:

What is viagogo?
viagogo is a global online marketplace for live sport, music and entertainment tickets. Whether a cup final, your favourite band or a destination festival, viagogo connects ticket buyers with ticket sellers around the globe.
viagogo aims to provide buyers with the widest possible choice of tickets to events, and enables sellers to reach a global audience. Once buyer and seller have entered into a transaction, viagogo ensures everything goes smoothly. viagogo is not the ticket seller and all transactions are between the buyers and sellers. See our Terms and Conditions for more information.

How do customers contact viagogo?
viagogo provides online help and customer service by email. Customers can contact us via email using the Help Centre on our website. If the enquiry is urgent, we'll call the customer to discuss it. We also provide an event day hotline telephone number. We restrict this phone number to customers whose event is coming up in the next three days to ensure that it is always available for last minute enquiries.
Why are some tickets listed for more than face value?
viagogo is a marketplace and doesn't buy or sell tickets. viagogo provides a platform for third party sellers to sell tickets to event goers. viagogo does not set ticket prices, sellers set their own prices, which may be above or below the original face value. Where demand is high and tickets are limited, prices increase.

Why are tickets in the same section for the same event offered at different prices?
viagogo provides a platform for third party sellers to sell tickets to event goers. viagogo does not set ticket prices, sellers set their own prices. Customers will often find multiple sets of tickets for the same section at different prices. Ticket sellers compete to offer the best price to customers.
What happens if an event is cancelled or postponed?
If an event is cancelled, all ticket buyers will receive a full refund, including shipping costs. In some cases, we may ask customers to return their tickets to the original ticket seller.
If an event is postponed, we follow the policy set out by the event organiser. Tickets are usually valid for the new date.

What happens if a customer does not get in to the venue?
If a customer has any problems with their tickets, we urge them to contact us immediately on our event day hotline. We are often able to find replacement tickets right away, and in the rare instances we are not able to, customers receive a full refund.

Why does viagogo not offer refunds?
viagogo is not the ticket seller. viagogo provides a platform for third party sellers to sell tickets to event goers. Once a transaction has been completed, buyers expect to receive their tickets and sellers expect to receive payment. If a buyer no longer wants to use their tickets, they can simply resell them to another buyer on our platform.

The event organiser has said that tickets purchased on viagogo will not be valid for entry, how can customers be sure they will get into the event?
The tickets sold on viagogo's platform are genuine tickets that have been sold on by the original ticket purchaser in good faith. Event organisers sometimes make claims that they will deny entry to people who have purchased resold tickets. These types of entry restrictions are highly unfair and in our view, unenforceable and illegal. Therefore, as with all tickets on our platform, viagogo customers should feel confident that they will gain entry to the event, and that is why we back every ticket with the viagogo guarantee.