Unhappy sevens fans left stranded by unaccredited ticket seller

10 December 2016 - 18:07 By Craig Ray
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A group of 12 people‚ nine of whom flew in from foreign destinations‚ have not received tickets for the HSBC Cape Town Sevens tournament that they bought in July and will thus not be able to attend the matches.

TMG Digital was informed of the situation and has been shown booking confirmation of the tickets‚ which were purchased through a Swiss-based company called Viagogo in July.

According to the purchaser they bought tickets for both Saturday and Sunday (the tournament takes place over two days) and have only received the tickets for Saturday. But despite confirmation of their ticket allocation for Sunday‚ they were informed earlier this week that no tickets were available and that they would receive a refund.

 “It was a dream trip for old friends from South Africa (going back to school days) from around the world to meet in Cape Town for a reunion‚” the unfortunate fan told TMG in an email.

“Three of us had recently been to the Hong Kong Sevens and we really enjoyed in the international party vibe in the South (party) Stand. Based on what we saw in Cape Town on TV last year we thought here is a venue that will rival Hong Kong.

“We actually ordered 14 tickets within an hour of the bookings opening on 29 July for R14‚680 (some four times the face value but worth it to be able to be sure we were together in the party stand). “Incidentally‚ we also ordered 14 tickets for the Saturday at the same time‚ same price and these were delivered on Tuesday with no problem.”

Viagogo have not responded to their queries and attempts to get comment from the company have been unsuccessful. When tickets went on sale in July‚ hosts SA Rugby and tournament owners World Rugby warned fans against buying tickets from non-accredited vendors.

Viagogo were not accredited sellers. “SA Rugby would like to caution members of the public who may be tempted to purchase from any unofficial agencies as tickets and hospitality cannot be guaranteed‚” SA Rugby said in July.

Viagogo appear to have a questionable track record and were threatened with legal action earlier this year for advertising tickets for cricket’s 2017 ICC Champions Trophy that hadn’t yet gone on sale.

According to a report in Britain’s Guardian newspaper in September: “Viagogo is the brainchild of American tech guru Eric Baker‚ 43‚ who also co-founded ticketing website StubHub before selling it to eBay for $310m in a deal believed to have made him more than $30m.

“So far‚ sites such as Viagogo have avoided a legal crackdown‚ although regulators are understood to be considering a full-blown investigation into secondary ticketing.”

TMG Digital/TMG Sport

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