Can you rely on your festival tickets?

May 26, 2010 - PRLog -- As Europe’s festival season approaches, the UK European Consumer Centre (UK ECC) has issued a warning to UK consumers to keep their wits about them when purchasing tickets, particularly on what is known as the ‘secondary ticket market’.

The ‘secondary ticket market’ is so called because tickets are not allocated by event organisers or other recognised primary ticket houses recommended by the venue or organiser. They can be particularly appealing to fans desperate to get tickets for their chosen event, even when the venue or organiser has sold-out.

Jed Mayatt, UK European Consumer Centre (UKECC) Manager, said: “Consumers need to be cautious when buying tickets, particularly if an event is sold out. A ‘sold-out’ event means it is sold out! But for some, the temptation of a website still offering tickets will be too great, even if it is at inflated prices.

“In many cases, these tickets will never be delivered. Most terms and conditions state that tickets will arrive just before the event, but if this doesn’t happen, the seller may be long gone and the consumer would have little protection. Redress then becomes very difficult.”

Now the UK ECC has produced a leaflet - ‘Can you rely on your festival tickets?’ - outlining the problem. Consumers can download a copy from its website: www.ukecc.net

The secondary ticket market poses problems for UK consumers every year - it is much more of a problem than the primary ticket market. This is largely because secondary ticket sellers may tend to specialise in ‘sold-out’ events – whether they are festivals, sporting or cultural.

Jed added: “Consumers tend to experience the same problems every year. The problem is not limited to one particular country, but the countries which UK consumers complain about most frequently include Hungary and the Netherlands.

“The European festival season kicks off in earnest this Bank Holiday weekend, so this is a timely reminder for consumers to keep their wits about them.”

The UK European Consumer Centre received 215 complaints and enquiries during 2009 from UK  consumers relating to EU traders under its ‘recreational and cultural services’ category, which includes ticket problems.

•   The UK ECC provides advice and support to consumers who have a dispute with a trader based in a European country outside the UK and will assist consumers in the attempt to resolve the complaint.

•   Consumers can make contact with the UK European Consumer Centre via the website – www.ukecc.net – or by phone on 08456 04 05 03 weekdays between 10am and 3pm.

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The UK ECC is part of a network that is made up of 29 centres throughout Europe. The centres work together in order to try and resolve consumer cross-border disputes in an amicable manner. We provide advice, information, and support to consumers.