Eurovision fans were crushed after ticket resale site Viagogo failed to deliver tickets for tonight’s finals in Turin, Italy.
And among those who left their pockets was Hela from Israel (I asked that diverse Her family name is withheld for privacy reasons. She ordered four tickets for her daughter’s bat costing about $5,500 in January plus booking airline tickets, car rentals, and a hotel room, which amounted to about $2,000.
She said, “Once I completed the purchase, I received a strange ‘confirmation’ mail from Viagogo that I would be getting tickets at a later stage closer to ticket issuance…so I then realized they sold me something that didn’t exist.” However, Viagogo kept its promise to deliver tickets, first on April 23 and then on May 6.
However, on May 13, a day before the Eurovision final, Hila received an email from Viagogo stating: “We are very sorry to inform you that the seller was unable to provide your tickets as you originally requested. Your transaction has therefore been cancelled and your transaction will be cancelled. Refund of the full purchase amount of €5274.39 [$5,491.35]. Viagogo told Hella, who had already arrived in Italy at that point with her husband and children, that it would take up to 10 days for a refund.
Similarly, Juan Carlos Orihuela Cuesta of Spain bought tickets from Viagogo in February for himself, his brother and his partner. Was directed to Viagogo after searching Googling for “buy Eurovision tickets” and seeing that the first 4 results were all in Viagogo. But alarm bells sounded months later when a friend told him that tickets were only issued in April and sold out within minutes. Cuesta checked twice with Viagogo who confirmed he would get his tickets.
However, on April 24, he received an email from Viagogo saying that the seller could not provide the original tickets but that they would receive different tickets and a small amount of compensation. Cuesta accepted the offer reluctantly. On May 12, two days before the event, he received a follow-up email saying that no tickets would be offered after all, leaving him “smashed”.
With a hotel room and flights booked, Cuesta has fortunately been able to purchase rehearsal tickets on May 14 and intends to watch the finals on a screen in downtown Turin with his partner.
Cuesta and Hela aren’t the only ones angry at Viagogo. The Facebook group “Victims of Viagogo” has more than 12,000 members from all over the world who share their problems. A fan in Kentucky wrote on May 13: “I bought two tickets to The Eagles at the KFC Yum Center last night. Not only were the tickets good, but to a section that wasn’t even there.”
Another wrote on the same day: “I’m still waiting for PSB tickets in Brussels on May 17th. Keep getting ‘Tickets Available Soon’ – emails from Viagogo. Is there any point in waiting?”
In 2018, the UK Advertising Standards Agency upheld a complaint against Viagogo that found its prices were misleading and that it erroneously described itself as an “official” seller of Ed Sheeran’s 2017 tour. The ASA stated: “Because Viagogo was in fact a secondary ticket outlet, we concluded That the claim was misleading.”
That same year, Margot James, then the UK Minister for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, was reported to have summoned resale tickets. According to the BBC, she told Radio 5 Live: “Don’t choose Viagogo – it’s the worst.”
Switzerland-based Viagogo, which bought Stubhub in 2019, did not respond miscellaneous Inquiries by press time.
A Eurovision spokesperson said: “The Eurovision Song Contest does not work with Viagogo. While we are obviously disappointed to hear that any Contest fans have been scammed, we make it clear on our tickets page that tickets can only be resold through the FanSale.it website and are resold On any other site is expressly prohibited.”
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