All Blacks fan left ‘gutted’ after purchase from Ticketmaster resale site

AN elderly sports fan has been left severely out of pocket after mistakenly purchasing from the wrong Ticketmaster site.

New Zealand resident Christine Lunn paid almost twice the face value for six tickets to the All Blacks Test against Wales later this month, after she inadvertently purchased the tickets from Ticketmaster’s sister site Ticketmaster Resale.
Lunn paid ND$852 (AUD $802) for the six seats on Thursday, despite them still being available at the time from the conventional ticket wholesaler for just NZD$75 (AUD $70) each.
“I put in ‘All Blacks versus Wales’, it came up with a selection. I thought I’d clicked on Ticketmaster, and I didn’t realise it said Ticketmaster Resale,” she told Fairfax Media.
“They were $141.34 (AUD $133.15) each, so we thought at that price they’ve got to be half-decent seats.”
According to the website, Ticketmaster Resale “is an open marketplace for the sale and purchase of live event tickets. The site does not “sell tickets, set ticket prices or control the ticket inventory” available on the website — rather they provide a platform from which other people can buy and sell their tickets.
Regardless, Lunn was ropeable that Ticketmaster would agree to partner with a site that could potentially confuse those not familiar with online ticket purchases.
“The fact that Ticketmaster is condoning this is what annoys me,” she said.
Todd Barberel, head of marketing at New Zealand Rugby, said the union felt for fans “who think they’re being ripped off in this way”.
“The site she purchased from is clearly labelled Ticketmaster Resale. It also states that prices will generally exceed face value, so customers need to have a careful look and weigh that up before purchasing,” he said.
While New Zealand Rugby sells some 200,000 tickets annually, scalping is allegedly a rare problem in the sport.
Where it will always be safer to purchase hard-copy tickets from a vendor, for those who still prefer the online option, make sure you do your research first.