‘Tis the season for gift giving, and for that special sports or music fan in your life, the right tickets to the right event can make the perfect holiday gift. But shady resale sites, scammers, and restrictive tickets can put a damper on your holiday cheer, resulting in the purchase of fraudulent tickets that don’t exist, or even genuine tickets that make terrible gifts because they cannot be transferred to your loved ones.
We’ve teamed up with the National Consumers League to bring six helpful tips to avoid scams, non-transferrable tickets, and other hassles that could turn your thoughtful gift into a nightmare.
1. Use Reliable Sellers: Beware of fly-by-night ticket sellers. If you’re unsure whether a company is legitimate, check its ratings with the Better Business Bureau and on consumer review sites such as Yelp! If purchasing from a ticket broker, check to see if they are members of the National Association of Ticket Brokers, whose Code of Ethics requires members to adhere to basic consumer protections.
2. Check Guarantees: Check your ticket vendor’s guarantee policy. For example, website like Stub Hub, TicketsNow, Ace Tickets and All-Shows guarantee every ticket sold on their sites, and will replace them or provide refunds to consumers if they receive the wrong tickets, their tickets are invalid or an event is cancelled. Craigslist and other online classifieds sites do not offer such guarantees; it’s “buyer beware” when shopping this way.
3. Pay Attention to URLs: When buying tickets directly from a venue, check the website’s URL to ensure that you don’t get duped by an imposter. For example, Katy Perry fans were recently tricked by a website that sold tickets to a free concert at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Remember, even if a website looks like the official site, it may be bogus.
4. Read the Fine Print: Just because you bought the ticket doesn’t mean you can give it away. Some concerts and sporting events sell restricted tickets, like Ticketmaster Paperless Tickets. These events require buyers to show up at the venue and present your purchasing credit card and photo ID to gain admittance. With these events, you often do not receive a physical ticket, or the ticket is worthless unless you have the matching credit card and photo ID. Ticketmaster recommends that you buy gift tickets with the recipient’s credit card and reimburse them. Some ticketing companies charge additional fees to transfer restricted tickets; others do not allow them to be transferred at all. Also, for some shows, Ticketmaster’s own gift cards are invalid for buying paperless tickets, so if you are planning on buying one for friends or family, make sure they know that it may not be good for every show. For a list of artists and sports teams that use restricted tickets, visit Fan Freedom Project’s FAQ
5. Know the Rules: Some venues limit the number of tickets you can buy. A Radiohead fan recently reported purchasing a block of tickets to share with friends. She ordered more tickets as a wedding gift, but found herself over the four-ticket max that the venue set for the show. She is now fighting with the ticket company and venue as they are threatening to cancel her tickets.
6. Buy with a Credit Card: Regardless of where you buy tickets, be sure to use a credit card so you can dispute any unfair or unauthorized charges. Before entering your credit card information online, be sure the site has “https://” at the beginning of the website address. This means the site is encrypted and safer for use.
Are you planning on giving tickets as gifts this holiday season? If you encounter any trouble, we’d like to hear about it.