The Border has become the latest victim of dodgy ticket reselling site Viagogo, which is trying to scam people into paying inflated prices for theatre and music concerts.
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Albury Entertainment Centre issued a warning to avoid the website because not only was it selling tickets more than three times the official price, they may not be accepted at the venue at all.
“All tickets for performances at Albury Entertainment Centre are sold through our own website. We have been made aware that tickets to some upcoming performances in our venue are for sale on Viagogo at extremely inflated prices,” it said on its Facebook page this week.
Les Miserables will open at the venue on Friday, October 13.
Adult tickets will cost $40 each when bought through the official website, but Viagogo had them for up to $138 for opening night.
It also claimed on Friday there were only 17 tickets left, but the official website revealed there were actually more than 100 available.
Viagogo was also trying to make money off people attending the Midnight Oil and John Farnham shows at Wodonga’s Gateway Lakes in November and March.
A $110 John Farnham ticket was going for $140 and an $80 Midnight Oil ticket would cost as much as $179.
Viagogo tricks customers into purchasing tickets by appearing at the top of a google search, making it appear like it is the official seller, and telling customers to hurry and complete their order before the show is sold out.
NSW Better Regulation Minister Matt Kean said in August that NSW Fair Trading received 187 consumer complaints and 237 enquiries about the Swiss-based company in 2017 alone.
“Complaints to date have included delayed delivery, events being cancelled, heavily marked-up prices, hidden fees, and failure to provide refunds,” he said.
“With most complaints relating to two or more tickets, Fair Trading has estimated around 600 consumers have been ripped off at a cost of almost $130,000.”
Advocacy group Choice honoured Viagogo this week in its annual Shonky awards “for dodgy practices that tick off consumers”.
“The ticket reseller engages in illegal drip pricing, commonly creates confusion for consumers, fails to respond to complaints and has a "customer guarantee" that's about as reliable as a scalper in a back alley,” Choice said.
Albury mayor Kevin Mack advised people to buy tickets through the official site.
“The Albury Entertainment Centre has been affected by a very small number of incidents involving the Viagogo site,” he said.
“Buyers should exercise caution when buying tickets on-line and always ensure they’re booking through reliable sites.”
