Coldplay ticket scam - how does this work then?
Discussion
Tried to buy tickets for Coldplay's 1st July Royal Albert Hall gig this morning. Found myself in a queue, which refreshed itself automatically every 20 seconds and then, after an hour, changed to a message saying the tickets had sold out. Next thing Coldplay's Facebook page is inundated with people complaining that tickets are already appearing on eBay for thousands of pounds! Now, the terms and conditions state the following ...
- The name of the lead booker will be printed on each ticket. The lead booker must attend the concert and photo ID will be required to gain entry to the venue. There will be no exceptions to this rule.
- The name cannot be changed once the booking has been made.
- If you are booking more than one ticket your guests must arrive at the concert at the same time as you. Failure to do so will result in the guests being turned away. Tickets cannot be left at the box office for collection.
This was on the telly the other night.
The 'lead booker' buys x number of tickets in their own name.
You buy x -1 tickets for a hugely inflated price.
You meet this person on the night of the gig and go with them to the venue, where they display the ID that indicates they are the person who bought all the tickets and in you go.
The 'lead booker' buys x number of tickets in their own name.
You buy x -1 tickets for a hugely inflated price.
You meet this person on the night of the gig and go with them to the venue, where they display the ID that indicates they are the person who bought all the tickets and in you go.
MitchT said:
selym said:
You had a lucky escape amigo!
Let's not turn this into an anti-Coldplay rant - music taste is subjective - serious answers only please!
BBC Watchdog did a piece about this the other night as Kate Bush has used a similar tactic for her tickets.
You'll need to meet the seller on the night, get your ticket and then they will escort you into the venue showing the necessary lead booker ID/Credit Card.
They then leave to meet the next punter.
It's not that different from the festival touts that stick a wristband on you, walk you through security and then take it off you and head back out.
You'll need to meet the seller on the night, get your ticket and then they will escort you into the venue showing the necessary lead booker ID/Credit Card.
They then leave to meet the next punter.
It's not that different from the festival touts that stick a wristband on you, walk you through security and then take it off you and head back out.
SlidingSideways said:
It's not that different from the festival touts that stick a wristband on you, walk you through security and then take it off you and head back out.
Does this actually happen? So what are the chances of me turning up to Glastonbury this year and there being someone there who can do this exact thing for me for payment? As if this goes on I'll have a go! Tried desperately to get tickets!Mitch, they are called 'Walkers'.
The BBC Watchdog programme covered it recently but their case study was Kate Bush gigs.
It works like this...
The touts use 'bots' to block genuine users from the principal ticketing website.
The touts have a list of identities and credit cards to use. They buy as many batches of four (or maximum allocation) tickets as they can.
They then sell the tickets at massively inflated prices on the secondary market.
They arrange to meet the buyers of the tickets prior to the gig, and 'Walk' the secondary buyers into the gig, using the pre-arranged ID as the 'named ticket holder'.
They then 'Walk' out of the venue. There's nothing to prevent them from doing this.
Some will then swap to a new ID to 'Walk' a second batch of secondary buyers into the gig. (Repeat as many times as you have false ID's).
This explains why there are often a significant number of empty seats at 'Sold Out' gigs. If you are lucky, as a secondary buyer, you'll get 'Walked In' and see the gig (at an extortionate price, little of which goes to support the band/venue). If you are unlucky, you've been the victim of a fraud, and will have lost a fortune, but have no way in to the venue.
Some artists are trying to enforce these conditions in an attempt to drive out the touts and minimise the secondary ticket market, but the touts and chancers are more than happy to adapt their methods to work around the 'problem'. To me, the very fact that 'premium' sought after tickets are re-sold within seconds of going on sale is indicative of the fact that their initial buyers had no intention of going to the show.
The only solution I can see is to restrict the secondary ticket market to sales "at face value" plus a fixed processing charge. Or to ban the secondary ticket market altogether, something like Football tickets, which it is illegal to sell on. Kudos to Coldplay, and other artists, for trying to do something to help the genuine fans, but there is little they can really do to solve the issue without assistance from the likes of GetMeIn, Stubhub, ViaGoGo, etc, and those companies have a vested interest in keeping the secondary market alive.
The content isn't available on BBC iPlayer, but here's a link to the Watchdog site... http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3Sn9kz60S...
The BBC Watchdog programme covered it recently but their case study was Kate Bush gigs.
It works like this...
The touts use 'bots' to block genuine users from the principal ticketing website.
The touts have a list of identities and credit cards to use. They buy as many batches of four (or maximum allocation) tickets as they can.
They then sell the tickets at massively inflated prices on the secondary market.
They arrange to meet the buyers of the tickets prior to the gig, and 'Walk' the secondary buyers into the gig, using the pre-arranged ID as the 'named ticket holder'.
They then 'Walk' out of the venue. There's nothing to prevent them from doing this.
Some will then swap to a new ID to 'Walk' a second batch of secondary buyers into the gig. (Repeat as many times as you have false ID's).
This explains why there are often a significant number of empty seats at 'Sold Out' gigs. If you are lucky, as a secondary buyer, you'll get 'Walked In' and see the gig (at an extortionate price, little of which goes to support the band/venue). If you are unlucky, you've been the victim of a fraud, and will have lost a fortune, but have no way in to the venue.
Some artists are trying to enforce these conditions in an attempt to drive out the touts and minimise the secondary ticket market, but the touts and chancers are more than happy to adapt their methods to work around the 'problem'. To me, the very fact that 'premium' sought after tickets are re-sold within seconds of going on sale is indicative of the fact that their initial buyers had no intention of going to the show.
The only solution I can see is to restrict the secondary ticket market to sales "at face value" plus a fixed processing charge. Or to ban the secondary ticket market altogether, something like Football tickets, which it is illegal to sell on. Kudos to Coldplay, and other artists, for trying to do something to help the genuine fans, but there is little they can really do to solve the issue without assistance from the likes of GetMeIn, Stubhub, ViaGoGo, etc, and those companies have a vested interest in keeping the secondary market alive.
The content isn't available on BBC iPlayer, but here's a link to the Watchdog site... http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3Sn9kz60S...
nick s said:
SlidingSideways said:
It's not that different from the festival touts that stick a wristband on you, walk you through security and then take it off you and head back out.
Does this actually happen? So what are the chances of me turning up to Glastonbury this year and there being someone there who can do this exact thing for me for payment? As if this goes on I'll have a go! Tried desperately to get tickets!Quite often the Ticket agencies directly feed the "reseller" marketplace:
For Example:
www.getmein.com is owned by ticketmaster - I wonder where they get the tickets from???
People working for the Venue/Ticket agency/ band etc will have access to tickets BEFORE they go on sale, hence they sell them on ebay to supplement their income.
I read that up to 20% of all concert tickets are never offered to the public at face value.
You have had a lucky escape though - aside from Coldplay being dull, the acoustics in the Royal Albert Hall are awful, especially if you have seats on the side. It is one venue I will not visit again.
For Example:
www.getmein.com is owned by ticketmaster - I wonder where they get the tickets from???
People working for the Venue/Ticket agency/ band etc will have access to tickets BEFORE they go on sale, hence they sell them on ebay to supplement their income.
I read that up to 20% of all concert tickets are never offered to the public at face value.
You have had a lucky escape though - aside from Coldplay being dull, the acoustics in the Royal Albert Hall are awful, especially if you have seats on the side. It is one venue I will not visit again.
jesusbuiltmycar said:
www.getmein.com is owned by ticketmaster - I wonder where they get the tickets from???
I was amazed that the Watchdog article about the Kate Bush gigs didn't pick up on this, especially with the Ticketmaster tickets all being sold out mere moments after going on sale.MitchT said:
- The name of the lead booker will be printed on each ticket. The lead booker must attend the concert and photo ID will be required to gain entry to the venue. There will be no exceptions to this rule...
Ian974 said:
MitchT said:
- The name of the lead booker will be printed on each ticket. The lead booker must attend the concert and photo ID will be required to gain entry to the venue. There will be no exceptions to this rule...
When I saw rage Against the Machine in Finsbury Park (tickets free by lottery) the ticket had my photo on it - to prevent any re-sale / touting....
Gassing Station | Music | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff