NZ football fans lash out at Ticketek after payment glitch

Australian ticketing operator Ticketek has been criticised by New Zealand football fans after they encountered payment problems when attempting to buy tickets for the crucial Fifa World Cup play-off game against Peru.

Many fans were left unable to buy tickets because of a glitch which meant the site would only accept Visa card payments, leaving Mastercard and other payment options useless.

Ticketek spokesman Kyle Patterson said the issue was “regrettable,” but said it was unintentional and “short-lived”. He was only made aware of the issue after complaints came streaming in on social media.

Ticketek claims to sell more than 28 million tickets per year, covering 20,000 events, including concerts, sports, theatre, musicals, festivals, exhibitions, VIP experiences and family events.

New Zealand’s qualifier against Peru offers them the chance to make the World Cup for the first time since 2010 and just the third time in their history.

Tickets for the Peru game went on sale Tuesday, with 25,000 being shifted that day. Adult prices were between NZ$59 (€35/£32/$42) and NZ$129 to those that had registered for a waiting list, with cheaper advance tickets quickly selling out.

Twitter user Jon Hull said: “@Ticketek_NZ just bought waitlist tickets for @NZ_Football vs Peru, but was forced to use VISA card instead of Mastercard. Is this a bug?”

According to the Stuff news website, Ticketek New Zealand managing director Trina Tamati phoned customers who complained on social media to apologise and to ensure they were able to obtain tickets. Meanwhile, Patterson said it was a “really relatively minor issue that was resolved quickly”.

The general sale of tickets will be begin tomorrow (Friday) for what is expected to be a sell-out.

In August, AFL Aussie rules football fans lashed out at Ticketek after complaining of an arduous buying experience while attempting to secure tickets for the qualifying final between Geelong and Richmond.

As many struggled to secure a seat after tickets went on sale, and continued getting kicked out of the online queue, they began expressing their anger on Twitter. The mood did not improve when it was announced the game had sold out.

Image: Кирилл Венедиктов