Scam Alert! Have You Ever Been Ripped Off Buying Concert Tickets Online to a Classical Music Perf.?

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In our online business, we often have to deal with scammers and con artists of various types. I am alert and vigilant for fraud most of the times I am using the Internet. Before I joined Wealthy Affiliate, I explored a few other companies offering Affiliate marketing training, but didn’t pay a penny to them because… they just didn’t smell (sound, look) well; my intuition told me not to join them. Later, I learned from a WA member who joined one of these companies before he found WA, that in order to move on with them, he had to pay over 10 thousand dollars in all upsells they offered. But without purchasing other products, he could not move on in working on his business -- that’s the way they organized their training and services. So, I was right not to join that company whose initial fee was only $99.00 And once again, my intuition suggested joining Wealthy Affiliate, and here I am two years later, still enjoying the journey!

But when it comes to classical music, to me there is nothing more pure and beautiful. The words ‘fraud’ or ‘scam’ don’t enter my mind. This time, while buying concert tickets online, I lost my vigilance.

Daniil Trifonov, pianist.

There is a new star in classical music - Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov. Daniil is a winner of many very prestigious music competitions. In 60th Grammy Award 2017, he won Best Classical Instrumental Solo Prize. In 2016, he won Gramophone’s Artist of the Year award. In the season of 2010-2011, he was only 20 years old. That’s when he took the third prize in Warsaw’s Chopin Competition, First Prize in Tel Aviv’s Rubinstein Competition, and First Prize and Grand Prix in Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Competition. Two years later in 2013, he was awarded the Franco Abbiati Prize for Best Instrumental Soloist by Italy’s leading music critics.

A friend of mine informed me that Daniil Trifonov is going to perform in Boston this April. He’ll be playing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andris Nelsons. My husband and I discussed that 3 of us, including our son, who is the same age as Daniil Trifonov and also a professional pianist, only blind and autistic, should definitely attend this concert. But, we haven't decided on the details: which day out of 3 available we’ll go, what seats/ ticket price we should choose, etc. So, a few days ago we realized that the concert is coming soon, but we still didn’t purchase the tickets.

Buying Concert Tickets Online

It was late in the evening, close to midnight, when my husband and I got together at the computer and searched for the tickets to Boston Symphony Hall for Daniil Trifonov’s concert. I can’t remember exactly what keywords we used, but in the Search Results page, we followed one of the top links thinking that we are entering the Boston Symphony Orchestra site. As I said, I lost my watchfulness and didn’t even look at the address bar. And even if I did, it’s pretty common that a venue outsources their ticket sales to a third party. This is what the page looked like:



Nothing other than URL suggested that we were in a wrong place.

We found the tickets we were looking for - only a few left! The price was close to the highest edge: $123.00 per ticket, but we had to accept it because less than a month was left until the concert, and the artist was very popular. While we were choosing our tickets, the pop-up in the upper right corner of the screen suggested that somebody just purchased several tickets for this concert. As soon as we chose the tickets, the countdown timer came up giving us less than 10 minutes to complete our purchase because of the high demand. This, of course, aggravated the situation: we were rushed, we were not given time to think and double-check.

Once we submitted the payment, we received the full cost breakdown on the screen and the total was $467.20!

Tickets Purchased: 3
Price per ticket: 123.00
Ticket Cost: 369.00
Booking Fee: 92.25 <$30.75 per ticket! -- J.S.>
Shipping Fee: 5.95 <for electronic delivery! -- J.S.>
Buyer VAT:
Buyer Total: 467.20


Only then we looked up at the URL: www.viagogo.com
Do you see their logo on either screenshot above?


Is Viagogo a scam?

I’d say, ABSOLUTELY!

No order cancellation was available even in seconds after we submitted the order (not surprisingly, right?) Viagogo provides “sell tickets” option on their website. The sale price, of course, does not include their larcenous fees, which means that we could sell for $369.00 the tickets we purchased a second ago for $467.20 - so, that they could sell them again and rob another victim for another $100.00. No way!

Viagogo provides customer service phone number on their site, but when we called, the automated answering system offered only 2 options: buy tickets & sell tickets.

There was an option to send a message to Viagogo Customer Service from their website, but no option to send a copy to myself. We’ve sent them a message requesting cancellation and full refund, and I just copied and saved the text for myself in order to keep proper documentation for the future reference.

I also called my credit card bank, and they suggested filing a dispute once the transaction is posted. They mentioned that viagogo is known for having many disputes filed in their name.

I did receive email responses to every message I sent to viagogo. However, I believe that there was no real person behind those replies. Their first email response was “in answer to your question regarding the price that you paid for your tickets, we have provided a detailed breakdown of your purchase price…” - the question I never asked. But, it was good to receive the written breakdown because since seeing it on their website after transaction, it was not provided anywhere else.

I wrote back from my Outlook email account saying that I never asked that question and included the text of my original message in that reply (!!!) I repeated that I am demanding cancellation of my order and full refund and explained the reasons in details. Their second response was: “Unfortunately, we are unable to offer you a refund or exchange for your tickets. viagogo is a secondary marketplace which allows customers to buy and sell tickets. At the time you purchased your tickets, as well as guaranteeing your purchase, we also guaranteed the seller that they will be paid for their sale. Therefore, the best and only option is to re-list them for sale.” They assured me that they will not charge me any seller’s fees (that’s not the same fees they’ve taken from me already at the time of purchase!). I replied once again encouraging them to do the right thing: return the money to my credit card. The next response I received was identical to the previous one. Perhaps, their bot ran out of new message texts.

In any case, I needed this documentation to support my dispute for the charge at my bank, which I filed yesterday.

I’ve done just a little bit of research on viagogo afterwards (I’m too sick of them to do more!). Viagogo is an International company with their headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Viagogo is operating since 2006 and its founder and CEO is American businessman Eric Baker.

There are numerous reports on viagogo’s unethical and illegal activities. I found viagogoclassaction.com website and Viagogo Class Action Lawsuit Facebook page: both seem inactive since 2018 - I’m not sure why. I also found and joined the “Victims of Viagogo” Facebook group, which has 9,400 members and is still active. This group urges its members NOT to resell tickets through viagogo and thus not support their “pyramid” selling cycle. That call perfectly correlates with my own decision.

My husband and I started communication with viagogo immediately after submitting the order. The email invitation to download our tickets came only 20 hours later (the next day). They must have worked hard on electronic delivery to justify the $5.95 shipping fee. ;) We never created an account with viagogo: at the time of our purchase they requested my email address, but the password was optional - so, I didn’t create one. I never even clicked on the link to view or download these tickets. Some people report that the tickets they purchased through viagogo were not even valid. We’ll never know whether ours were valid, and I am not curious to find out…

Instead, my husband went to the real Boston Symphony Orchestra website and purchased the same tickets again for the same row KK, only this time, it cost him $65 per ticket (not $123.00 as the ticket price was listed at viagogo’s!) and $19.50 booking fee for all three tickets -- the total of $214.50

The bottom line...

  1. Viagogo is a fraudulent business:
        • Their website does not display viagogo logo in the header or a sidebar of each page. It purposely masks the fact that the visitors are not on the authentic site of the venue they are looking to attend
        • It rushes visitors during the check-out process with the count-down timer and pop-up messages.
        • It does NOT display either breakdown or total purchase price confirmation BEFORE the payment is submitted.
        • Viagogo’s ticket prices BEFORE any fees applied are almost DOUBLE of the original value.
        • They charge $5.95 shipping fee for electronic tickets.
        • When calling viagogo customer service number on the phone, there is no option to speak with a customer service representative or file a complaint.
        • The “sell tickets” option on their website offers viagogo’s original overpriced amount paid for the tickets minus all viagogo larcenous fees.
        • When contacting viagogo customer support through their website, there is no option to send a copy of the message to self and thus keep proper documentation on communication with the company.
        • The original customer’s communication message is not included either in auto-confirmation email that the message was received, nor in later correspondence.
        • The Customer Service responses are generic and do not address the actual issue.
        • The responses to customers’ issues seem to be auto-generated as they repeat themselves word to word, which no human would do.
  2. I urge you to ALWAYS be watchful when shopping online for ANY products or services. Do not let the beauty in this world to overshadow your alertness to the ugly part of it.
  3. If we lose the dispute, this would be the most expensive price that I’ve ever paid for a concert ($467.20 + $214.50) I trust in Daniil Trifonov and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Their art of music will be worth $700.00! I know they won't fail us! ;) :)

    Do you have any advice for me on how to win the dispute? Do you have any suggestions on how to stop viagogo from scamming their future customers? Have you ever been in a situation that my story reminds you of? Please comment and share your stories.
  4. Thank you!

    P.S. viagogo sells tickets to all kind of music concerts, festivals, and sports events. I'd like to make aware as many people as possible of their fraudulent business. Please use your affiliate link to share this post in your social networks, and possibly link it from your website if your niche is in "entertainment", "sports events" or something else relevant to tickets sales and viagogo's scam.

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    Recent Comments

    13

    We got some good news today: in Australia, Federal Court finds viagogo "engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct through its Google advertisements, claims about the scarcity of tickets and added fees."

    Sorry, Jewelia, but Viagogo is not a scam site. You bought the tickets, then changed your mind. Tickets are not an item which can be returned like a dress you don't like. It isn't realistic to expect to be able to send a copy of an email to customer service to yourself. Every single time I buy tickets from anywhere online, there's a count-down clock - if you don't buy them within the time period, then they will offer to sell them to someone else. They can't hold them for you forever.

    Viagogo is a highly respected ticket reseller. I must disagree with you here.

    Sorry Jeannine, but at least 9,400 people and I know that they are a fraudulent business because each one of us has personal experience of being duped by them. And unfortunately, from ripping off customers around the world, they can afford to have a strong legal team covering their back. I didn't change my mind. I was committed to getting these tickets for the price they offered and I agreed to, which was $123 per ticket. This would be $369 for 3 tickets. I never set my mind and agreed to pay an extra almost $100.00.

    My online experience with the legit sites is to be presented with the breakdown and total amount BEFORE the order is finalized.

    And how would you explain $5.95 shipping fee for electronic delivery?

    Besides, the true price for these tickets was $65/ each. Viagogo tickets have been sold contrary to BSO terms and conditions - see the screenshot of BSO policy.

    There is no countdown on BSO website. Not having timer doesn't mean "hold forever", but once I put tickets in my shopping cart, I should not be rushed with the checkout within less than 10 minutes.

    My goal in writing up all the details of this scam was to warn people, but then everyone is free to do what they want with this information.

    Wow, Jewelia. That is tragic, but it sounds to me like you are doing everything right to try to stop them from scamming others. Hopefully there will be some attorneys on WA reading your post who can offer you something besides compassion that this happened to you.

    I, too, love classical music. I sing in a community chorus that was founded here in the mountains to expose people who have not had an introduction to classical music to the joys of it and to keep classical music alive here.

    All of our concerts start out with a mass, which we sing in Latin, our director and guest accompanist play a 4-hand organ piece on the pipe organ during the intermission, and the second half of the performance is lighter and usually includes a couple fun pieces.

    This concert our tenors and basses are singing a gorgeous arrangement of "Amazing Grace", and the sopranos and altos are singing a great rendition of "This Train is Bound for Glory" This is a different format than we usually do, but there are several solos (and a quartet) interspersed throughout the program.

    Wish the three of you were in the area so you could attend....the concert is free! It is amazing how much talent (both musical and artistic, native and transplanted) live in this area. Maybe that's why the city of Asheville (40 miles away) is such a fast-growing retirement area.

    Best of luck with your dispute.

    Carol

    Dear Carol,

    I wish there was a "love" button here in addition to "like", like there is one on Facebook. :) I love your story, Carol. Thank you for sharing. You are talking so passionately about classical music and your upcoming concert. You really made me want to attend. It would be lovely to hear the chorus sing. I'm intrigued by an unusual format of "This Train is Bound for Glory".
    I love listening to pipe organ music, especially Bach fugues and his other compositions. There are fewer and fewer people left who can play the pipe organ.

    You see, no scammers of the world have the power to spoil the pleasure of the art. I wish I didn't have to deal with them at all. But in my mind, I've already disconnected them from the concert we are going to attend and enjoy.

    I just want to make sure that people are aware of viagogo. I am now thinking that my post may not attract enough attention because the subject is classical music, which isn't very popular anymore. But viagogo scams not only the admirers of classical music: they sell tickets to all kind of music concerts, festivals, and sports events.

    I hope people would notice this alert, read and share in social networks (using their affiliate link). There must be some members of WA who are in the "entertainment", "sports events" or some other niche that is relevant to this topic.

    Thank you again for your story and your kind words.

    ~ Julia

    I'm sending you a PM with the Utube link that our director sent us for rehearsing at home, so you can hear the arrangement. The thing I really enjoy is the sound of the whistle and the sound of the train chugging along that's written into the parts. Very unusual and fun to sing.

    We're singing Haydn's Missa Sancti Nicolai in Latin. Most of it's not too difficult because we've sung several masses before, but the Credo has some words we weren't familiar with, and have been a challenge to get our mouths wrapped around!

    Last year we sang Dan Forrest's "Lux", which is a new composition. Our director knows him and invited him to our concert. He wasn't able to attend, but requested Kathy to have it videotaped and put on Utube. I'll send you the link to that, too by PM if you'd like to hear it.

    We are so lucky with our director. She is so talented. She plays the pipe organ at First Methodist Church in Waynesville, is the associate director of the Junaluska Singers, who are an exclusive group of college kids mostly majoring in vocal performance, I think. They are hired for the summer and travel around the country performing. It is a thrill for us members of the Haywood Community Chorus to get to sing Handel's Messiah with them at Christmas time. We sing the choruses with them, and their members do the solos.

    Carol,

    I replied to your PM. I am glad that your director is very talented and also very active... creating many wonderful opportunities for the chorus. I am so happy for you! Wishing you much enjoyment with your performances.

    Warm regards,

    ~ Julia

    Thanks, Julia.

    Good evening Julia,

    I am very sorry you have this experience, a huge disappointment.
    I am happy to see you here but would have wished the reason was positive.
    Thank you for the warning. I hope a lovely concert somehow compensated for this nasty experience.

    Greetings from the south of Spain, Taetske

    Dear Taetske,

    Thank you for reading and for your comment. It's very nice to hear from you. This viagogo experience and this blog post is not a reason for my being back to WA. I am here for a positive reason: I feel well and working on my business again. :)

    I hope you are doing well and it's sunny in the south of Spain. :) Greetings to Michael!

    ~ Hugs,
    Julia

    Good Morning Julia,

    Nice to have you back. Michael says Hi.
    All well here in the south. I wrote a guest post on Sylvia's website and also on the website of Loes, so that is nice.
    Here is my monthly WA post. We still do not know if we can come to the U.S. this year, time will tell.

    Wishing you all the best.

    Abrazos, Taetske

    That's terrible Julia, thanks for the alert. I hope you can get your money back and enjoy the concert!

    Thank you, Edwin. I will enjoy the concert regardless of the resolution with the money...

    Remember the name of the company - they sell tickets to all kind of events. Hopefully, you'll never get caught in their web. Oh, and don't buy anything online when it's time to sleep. :)

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