QTIX is recommending the best way to protect your rights as a consumer when purchasing tickets online for all events is via qtix.com.au or an authorised seller. In the instance of major musicals or touring productions authorised sellers can be confirmed by visiting the event presenter's official website for each production.
Any tickets purchased through unauthorised sales channels may be seized or cancelled without refund or exchange and the bearer of the ticket may be denied admission.
Unauthorised sales channels include Viagogo, Ticket Merchant, eBay and Gumtree.
The Risks Of Buying Tickets Elsewhere Online
The recent emergence of reseller channels of event/entertainment tickets online is something impacting ticketing agencies and the live performance industry nationally and internationally.
Many of these sales channels are aggressively competing for event related search engine keywords to entice consumers to their sites for the purchase of tickets, often at highly inflated prices and with little authentication processes to ensure the validity of tickets being sold.
There is great risk for purchasers as these sites are being utilised by scammers who at times are:
- re-selling the same ticket/seat to several consumers
- making the original purchase with a stolen credit card.
As a consequence, any tickets purchased through unauthorised sales channels may be seized or cancelled without refund or exchange and the bearer of the ticket denied admission.
What Next If I Have Purchased a Ticket Via An Unauthorised Seller
- Consider that you may be denied admission to the event and your ticket may have been cancelled by QTIX with the permission of the event producer or presenter due to one or a combination of the following reasons:
- your ticket appears to have been purchased through an unauthorised sales channel;
- your ticket is suspected to have been resold on multiple occasions to you and others seeking to claim admission with the same ticket;
- your ticket is suspected to have been originally purchased via a stolen credit card or fraudulent behaviour has been detected when the purchase has been processed
- Check the terms and conditions of the sales channel from which you have purchased a ticket.
- If you have been denied admission, we recommend you lodge a complaint to the sales channel you purchased tickets from directly. If, however you don’t receive a response, and depending on the circumstances related to your ticket purchase, you may also consider contacting:
- the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC),
- the Office of Fair Trading; or
- the police.
How Can QTIX Help Me Further?
Unfortunately, if your tickets were not purchased by you from QTIX directly, our team do not have a record of your purchase transaction to secure these tickets. Where possible the venue can sell you a new seat but are not able to resolve issues relating to your ticket purchased via an unauthorised reseller.
QTIX is working with industry counterparts and the industry body, Live Performance Australia, in addressing relevant updates to the ticketing code of practice as well as implementing processes that educate consumers about the risks involved with purchasing tickets from a reseller or an unauthorised ticketing channel.