Viagogo (Toutagogo)

[redsheep]

I have been purchasing tickets for Man Utd games from Viagogo over the last year or so and have noticed changes in the prices and the way you are informed of costs.

 

This is what it says on the Viagogo website about the fees for Man Utd tickets:

All purchases on the Ticket Exchange will be subject to a fee which is added to the face value price of the ticket(s). This fee is inclusive of all booking fees, handling charges and VAT. The total charge will be clearly displayed before any purchase is confirmed.

Sellers will receive the face value of their Season Ticket if and when their tickets sell on the Ticket Exchange.

Please note that all fees are shown during the listing or purchase process for you to verify before confirming your listing or purchase.

 

 

 

Below are some examples of tickets (and prices)I've bought this year:

 

APRIL 2008

Number of Tickets: 1

Price per Ticket: £35.00

Total Ticket Cost: £35.00

Booking Fee: £8.75

Delivery Fee: £4.99

VAT: £2.40

Discount: -£0.00

Total Charge: £51.14

 

 

OCTOBER 2008

Number of Tickets: 2

Price per Ticket: £35.00

Total Ticket Cost: £70.00

Fees, Handling and VAT: £32.31

Total Charge: £102.31

 

 

DECEMBER 2008

Number of Tickets: 2

Price per Ticket: £35.00

Total Ticket Cost: £70.00

Fees, Handling and VAT: £43.12

Total Charge: £113.12

 

My main queries are for the following:

 

1. The website does not state what the fees are or how they are made up ANYWHERE.

 

2. The only time you see the fees are when you are about to confirm your purchase (so only when the tickets are "live". Although you can see the available tickets when they are not live, it doesn't show you the fees.).

 

3. Relating to the above point - becuase when these tickets become available they literally go in seconds, if you stop to look at and calculate the fees you will lose out on the tickets. Shouldn't the details of these fees be made available earlier (beofre the tickets become available?)

 

4. The prices!!! If you look at the purchase in april, if this was for 2 tickets it would have worked out at about £96. You can see in Octoberl this is £102 and more recently in December £113, all for "£35 tickets". Surely this is touting?! Why the big increases in fees?!

 

5. The April tickets give a breakdown of the costs. October and December don't. Is this to try and disguise their continual increase in fees? Surely this cannot be legal??

 

I have written to Viagogo several times asking them to explain what there fees are and asking why this information is no longer broken down on the statements we receive and all they do is write back to me quoting the text from their website (the text i added near the top) and they also say the fees are clearly stated (which they no longer are!).

 

What can be done about the blatant touting and also them hiding the info in relation to their fees?

 

Regards,

Martin

[Conniff]

Costs, just as everything else, are rising so an increase in fees is to be expected, I don't think I would call it touting.

 

I have had a look at their site and clicked on 'buy' and the fees are listed before you get to the payment page and are clear enough.

 

I don't think you could put the fees on the front page as these fees, which include VAT, will be a percentage so subject to the price of the ticket and the amount you buy.

Maybe it could say on the front page that 'tickets will be subject to a fee, but I don't think they can list them any sooner than they have.

[callumsgran]

Shouldnt the charges have gone down in December?

What with the reduction in VAT and all?

[Conniff]

They probably increased the fees so the prices remained the same but made more profit as the govenment did with petrol and ciggies.

[redsheep]

Costs, just as everything else, are rising so an increase in fees is to be expected, I don't think I would call it touting.

 

I have had a look at their site and clicked on 'buy' and the fees are listed before you get to the payment page and are clear enough.

 

I don't think you could put the fees on the front page as these fees, which include VAT, will be a percentage so subject to the price of the ticket and the amount you buy.

Maybe it could say on the front page that 'tickets will be subject to a fee, but I don't think they can list them any sooner than they have.

 

What justifies the extortionate handling fee? If I sold a match ticket to someone with a "handling fee" as high as theirs I would be labelled a tout.

 

I had already stated that the fees are shown when you buy - but not before (Do you know how viagogo works? Available tickets appear on the website but cannot be sold (therefore "buy" does not appear) until the club has confirmed the game is sold out. It is only at the buy point that you can see the fees. As explained tickets for the big games will go in seconds. why not make the fees available when the tickets are only in the "view" state and not buy. As they know what tickets are on sale prior to them becoming available to buy there is no reason why they can't state the fees.

 

The fees have risen consistenly throughout the year. If you compare October this years fees to December this years fees it is a 34% increase (or effectively 36.5% if you include VAT reduction).

[buzby]

Does it matter? Handling Fees = RipOff, and I have yet to find any true examples where a fee should not have been taken from the 'trade' price of the face value at the PoS. Whilst punters are happy to pay, the [problem] will continue unchecked. TS did initially promise an investigation into unfair 'booking fees', and from memory the only resolution they came up with was the no BF should be charged to those calling at the venue in advance of the performance, specialist firms like TicketMaster, could carry on as before.

 

I refuse to pay, and if others similarly follow this lead, the promoters will see that sales diminish, but the hard core fans who are prepared to pay any amount simply to get to the venue don't help!

[Conniff]

When I looked at the site all it had was a 'buy' button and when that was clicked the fee was shown under the ticket price.

 

It would seem that 'Viagogo' are at the top in adding fees if this chart by Which is anything to go by, and I have to agree they are a "rip-off", and I change my view, they are touting:

 

Booking fees - Buying tickets: your rights - Your rights - Which? Advice

 

Is there no choice but to use Via ?

 

There's lots of other reading and advice on there so may be worth having a look.

[redsheep]

Does it matter? Handling Fees = RipOff, and I have yet to find any true examples where a fee should not have been taken from the 'trade' price of the face value at the PoS. Whilst punters are happy to pay, the [problem] will continue unchecked. TS did initially promise an investigation into unfair 'booking fees', and from memory the only resolution they came up with was the no BF should be charged to those calling at the venue in advance of the performance, specialist firms like TicketMaster, could carry on as before.

 

I refuse to pay, and if others similarly follow this lead, the promoters will see that sales diminish, but the hard core fans who are prepared to pay any amount simply to get to the venue don't help!

 

This is the only other legal way of getting tickets for Man Utd games. I have membership but if I don't get tickets from the ballot for games I apply for, the only other option is to look on viagogo (apart from if a mate comes up trumps with a spare).

 

I expect the club are also (more?) to blame as im sure they take a huge cut. Tickets sold on Viagogo are tickets from season ticket holders who can't make a game.

[Mrs_Ryan]

My OH says Viagogo are a nightmare.

 

He was looking into selling some of his Leicester Tigers tickets, and due to the fact they wont release tickets until the last minute, he said there is fair chance they wouldnt sell. It just seems they are doing legalised touting...