Ticketmaster has been banned from claiming expensive tickets are the best ones for gig-goers
Three people complained that the claim that the tickets were "the best available" was misleading and unsubstantiated
TICKETMASTER is misleading gig-goers with claims that its Platinum deals "offers fans the best available tickets", a watchdog has ruled.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) found that Brits who spend more for the expensive tickets may end up in seats that are the same or worse than those on general sale.
Platinum tickets can be up to three times the price of general seating seats.
For example, people buying the top seats to see Taylor Swift in Manchester in June this year could be paying up to £220 for a ticket as opposed to £83 for general seating.
The company’s website claimed that Ticketmaster Platinum "offers fans the best available tickets for an event direct from the artist".
It added that the goal of the service was to give fans "fair and safe access to the best available tickets, while enabling artists and other people involved in staging live events to price tickets closer to their true value".
But the ASA today banned the claims after three people complained that they were misleading and unsubstantiated.
It ruled that consumers were likely to interpret the "best available" claims to mean that those tickets were better than any other available tickets for the event.
How to protect yourself when buying tickets to a gig or an event online?
We asked consumer group Which? to give us some advice on how to stay safe when buying tickets online. Here's their guide:
- Check the website: Check the website's credentials - the website should give a name, address and contact number of those running it. Remember that even if the email address ends with 'UK' it may still be based abroad making it more difficult to seek redress in the event of a problem.
- Look at feedback: If buying from an online auction site, always take some time out to check the seller's history and look at their feedback. Be aware of the risks of buying tickets through internet auctions - your rights are against the seller, who may be difficult to trace.
- Check the T&C's: Check that individuals are entitled to sell tickets for that particular event. Otherwise, even if you have a legitimate ticket, you might be refused entry. For example, festival tickets are often for named persons only and are not allowed to be sold on.
- Be informed: Make sure you know the full price, including the face value of the ticket, and any delivery charges before committing to buy.
- Secure payments: When paying online, only use sites which have a secure payment section.You can check this by looking for a padlock symbol or by making sure the website address begins with a 'https//' prefix.
The ASA said: "We therefore considered that whilst the Platinum tickets were among some of the best seats at the venue, they did not offer a tangible benefit compared to some of the general seating tickets and the experience offered by the Platinum tickets was no better than the experience offered by some of the general tickets."
It added that in some cases the experience offered, was worse than the experience offered by some of the general tickets, because they were further from the stage or did not offer as good a view.
A Ticketmaster spokeswoman said: "Platinum is one of the solutions Ticketmaster developed for artists and event organisers to get tickets, which are priced dynamically in some of the most in-demand areas, directly into the hands of fans.
"We constantly strive to be transparent and clear with the consumer. The wording in question on our website was changed over a year ago."
The company added that the proportion of Platinum tickets was never more than 9 per cent of total tickets.
Tickemaster owns the secondary ticket selling websites GetMeIn and Seatwave, which previously came under fire for inflating face value ticket prices and adding hidden fees.
More and more ticket touts are now buying vast quantities of concert tickets online before selling them for ridiculous sums.
Last year, tickets for the Liam Gallagher's nationwide tour, which originally cost £52.50 a ticket on Ticketmaster, plus £6 for delivery, were listed for as much as £1,000 each on StubHub.
RESELL RIP OFF How to buy tickets for sold out gigs and events at face value by swerving reselling websites
Meanwhile, Ed Sheeran this summer launched a war on touts by cancelling 10,000 tour tickets that were snapped up and minutes later put up for sale online for as much as £1,000.
The Competition and Markets Authority also announced last year it would be conducting an investigation into the market.
Fortunately, for those of us who would still like to enjoy music or go to the theatre for reasonable prices - ethical resale websites are here to help.
More about your consumer rights
The Sun Online previously reported on how you can buy tickets for sold out gigs and events at face value.
For example - backed by Sheeran himself – describes itself as a “fan-to-fan ticket resale” that is opposing profiteering resale websites.
Other alternatives include websites such as , which helps fans connect so that they can exchange tickets at face value or less.
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