Viagogo has claimed tickets were not fraudulent as they refund Teddy Swims fans who were turned away from his Amsterdam gig at the door.
The 32-year-old singer is currently touring Europe for his I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy album, with UK dates next month.
Hundreds were left standing outside the Ziggo Dome on February 22 after their tickets were rejected by the venue’s staff.
Viagogo has told Metro these tickets were not fake — as purported by fans — but after an investigation found they were legitimate ones sent via the ‘wrong delivery plan’.
‘Ticket fraud is extremely uncommon in our regulated marketplace due to the measures we have in place to prevent it,’ they shared.
‘Tickets purchased through Viagogo by fans were not fraudulent, and it was the venue’s decision to not grant access to the event.’
The reselling site stated that it was ‘human error’ that had caused the tickets to be transferred incorrectly, which meant Ziggo Dome did not accept them.
Buyers who contacted Viagogo were reportedly offered ‘immediate resolution’ with substitute tickets where possible.
Those who missed out are being offered full refunds in line with the seller’s policy.
A spokesperson for the platform added: ‘There is no incentive for anyone to sell a fraudulent ticket on our platform as sellers do not get paid until the seller successfully enters the event.
‘We are reviewing future sales to ensure this doesn’t happen again to ensure the correct delivery plan is followed. We want to provide the best experience to all our customers, both our buyers and our sellers.
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‘We have contacted all impacted sellers to ensure this doesn’t happen again. Sellers who failed to deliver their tickets as expected through the correct delivery plan were penalised under our terms and conditions.’
However, this doesn’t stop disgruntled fans from venting on TikTok, accusing the platform of selling ‘scam’ tickets.
‘We got scammed big time,’ wrote hlbrn_ on TikTok, sharing a video of a huge queue outside the venue.
She said: ‘This whole queue of people is not the queue for Teddy Swims, it’s the queue of all the people who have bought tickets on Viagogo who have now lost their money.’
Her video panned around the outside of the Ziggo Dome, showing fans waiting around or leaving after being disappointed.
Hlbrn_, claimed the site had been ‘selling tickets they were not authorised to sell’, which left fans in the lurch.
‘I think Viagogo has a responsibility to compensate people who have been really let down tonight,’ said one fan waiting outside the venue. ‘I also think that Teddy Swims’ reputation shouldn’t be damaged by the mismanagement of Viagogo.
‘If you just look at the line, there’s a lot of really unhappy people tonight so that’s a real shame.’
Metro has reached out to Ziggo Dome for a response.
Viagogo is a second-hand sale website where those who no longer need or want their tickets can resell directly to other fans, with the company taking a commission.
However, it has come under fire recently as scalpers become a huge problem for music lovers trying to get to gigs.
Extortionately inflated prices have become a common sight on the platform and for tickets that are face value, it is potluck whether they are real or not.
The UK government is even trying to put restrictions in place over third-party resellers, following in Canada and Australia’s shoes to de-incentivise this scammer’s paradise.
In another video, the original poster clarified that some fans with Viagogo tickets did manage to enter the venue — the platform told us that was 95% of those who purchased tickets.
The Teddy Swims fan also added that they had used the site before for other gigs in Europe with no issues.
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Viagogo’s website states its policy requires ‘sellers to only list valid tickets’ and to ‘provide accurate information in the ticket listing’.
However, it does not state sellers have to prove at any point their ticket is a valid one before flogging it to an unsuspecting fan. Much of the investigative side appears to land at the fans’ feet.
The website adds they will ‘step in to obtain the correct tickets from the seller, or offer you replacement tickets or a full refund. If the seller cannot provide the correct tickets, their account will be charged and/or suspended to protect marketplace quality.’
Metro also reached out to Teddy Swims and Ziggo Dome for comment.
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