Supply
Stacey Stocker changed his seats for the Killers from Ticketek at the last minute and was placed in a seat with crowded views despite paying for premium seats.
Concert goers and sports fans say they are competing with ticketing company Ticketek to get refunds for events and pay for seat changes made at the last minute.
A Ticketek spokesperson said they were dealing with an “unusual volume” of customer inquiries and working through the responses.
But Stacey Stocker said two months was too long to wait for communication from the company after its seats were changed at the last minute to the killers at Christ’s Arena.
He chose $171 for two seated tickets, only to have the seating plan changed and his seat moved by Ticketek to the side of the stage, where his view was blocked by a huge screen.
“So many people moved from fabulous seats to seats where we couldn’t see,” he said.
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“Everybody was angry. They paid us top dollar to have terrible seats, and they moved us to the outside view. At least we saw them walking – that was it.”
His attempts to contact Ticketek for a refund were futile as emails and phone calls went unanswered.
“They have taken our money and are not providing the service we are paying for. Not to mention they ignore everyone around her.”
Breakfast
The pop star was passing through Featherston and stopped for a drink and some food.
Ruan Bangcal also had an Ed Sheeran ticket and said he had a “very frustrating experience” trying to get a refund for a concert he could no longer go to.
“We couldn’t catch anything,” he said.
A few days ago the tickets were renewed, and he received two tickets of the same.
“The set one was still the normal one and the duplicate one was red, meaning ordered.
“We checked every email or our bank account, but there was no refund or any email. The next day the ticket went “founded” and we are left with a ticket we can’t use or get a refund.”
Another Ed Sheeran ticket holder bought four refundable tickets but fell ill with Covid and could no longer attend.
As part of the policy to ask for a refund if the ticket holders had Covid, the request was only made before the event, and they could not attend due to the period of isolation between the concerts, but his efforts were unsuccessful. He hid himself, and still had no refuge.
“The concert is today and we still have no communication and no refund.”
Supply
Ed Sheeran plays in Wellington and Auckland.
Ticketholders who pre-ordered the ASB Classic on January 4 were still waiting for refunds a month later.
A Ticketek spokesperson said that several ticket refunds for canceled matches had been processed automatically by Ticketek.
Delays are possible for customers who bought tickets in person or who changed credit details later because more manual processing is required, he said.
“Auckland has been struggling with weather conditions for several weeks now, and so it’s understandable that an unprecedented amount of event cancellations require a large volume of refunds.”
When asked about the lack of communication from the company, he reiterated the “unprecedented volume” of customer inquiries due to the flood-impacted events in NZ, coupled with the Ed Sheeran concert.
“Ticketek understands the patience of customers while we work through answers. “