The saddest part about it is potentially some people have paid double the price of the face value and that's totally unfair
- Brendan Maher
Fake tickets bought by Border theatre patrons led Albury Entertainment Centre to suspend the print-at-home function on its booking site.
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Venue manager Brendan Maher said this temporary action, which would require most people to pick up their tickets from the centre, came in response to "a huge influx" of transactions involving online ticketing site Viagogo.
"The bulk of the sales on Viagogo come from middle Europe, Germany, Ukraine and the Czech Republic," he said.
"It looks like a legitimate purchase until we go into the details, but then they on-sell them for a higher, inflated price."
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One patron wanting to attend Albury Wodonga Theatre Company's recent production of Kinky Boots reported paying $180 for tickets that turned out to be fraudulent and "(I'm) still trying to get my money back".
"My guests ... found that the seats allocated didn't even exist," another patron wrote online, adding staff then organised seating.
Amy Murray, of Albury Wodonga Theatre Company, said some Kinky Boots audience members inadvertently double-booked seats because they bought tickets through Viagogo.
"As performers, we want people to come to the theatre for fabulous entertainment, not to pay through the nose for a second-rate ticketing service," she said.
Mr Maher said coming shows like this week's Puttin' On The Ritz and Jesus Christ Superstar in September had also attracted fake transactions.
Albury Entertainment Centre tried to assist people who turned up with tickets they thought were legitimate.
"We have done our best to accommodate them, because of the Viagogo which is out of our control, and made sure that they've got a seat," the venue manager said.
"It's important for those patrons then to go to the bank and say what the situation was.
"We're lucky enough on most occasions we haven't had to knock anyone back, but in the event we have 100 per cent sell-out shows, it could get awkward.
"The saddest part about it is potentially some people have paid double the price of the face value and that's totally unfair."
The centre announced the temporary disabling of the print-at-home function on Saturday, but no time frame had been confirmed.
Mr Maher said sites like Viagogo were an industry-wide problem and people should only use reputable websites.
"That's the real message, make sure you buy from the accredited ticket sale site," he said.
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