Viagogo says the Rugby World Cup’s resale policy is “unfair and disingenuous” after it was found to be listing tickets against the tournament’s rules.
Organisers of the Japan event, which kicked off on Friday and will run through until November 2, have listed Viagogo as an “unauthorised entity,” along with StubHub, SeatGeek, LiveRugbyTickets.co.uk and Rugby Ticket Service.
The official Rugby World Cup website states that no tickets bought through Viagogo and other websites “shall be deemed valid or usable under any circumstances.” Organisers claim they are operating a face-value resale service for fans.
According to the Sunday Times, the RWC organisers said: “While some of the overseas ticket-reselling websites state a money-back guarantee in their terms of service, it is valid only under certain conditions.
“When contacting an overseas ticket-reselling site in case of trouble, it may be difficult to communicate and negotiate with them over conditions for cancellation and refund.”
The Japan tournament has made all categories of seats available to be purchased, apart from bundle tickets, hospitality packages and premium seats.
Viagogo defended its sale of Rugby World Cup seats: “With the overwhelming majority of Rugby World Cup tickets going to sponsors, VIPs, corporate hospitality packages and other rugby insiders, such as federations, coaches and players, most rugby fans would not have access to a high-profile event such as this were it not for Viagogo.
“We believe it’s completely unfair and disingenuous for the organisers to outlaw resale when they continually allocate tickets in this manner. Despite their public statements, organisers rarely, if ever, deny entry to customers with a ticket purchased from Viagogo, and our users can rest assured that no seller gets paid until after the event, so there is zero incentive for anyone to use our platform to sell invalid tickets.”
Viagogo said that it provided a guarantee to its customers “in the extremely rare circumstances they are unfairly denied entry just because they purchased on Viagogo”.
On Viagogo’s site, tickets for Ireland’s match against Scotland in Yokohama on Sunday were priced from €111 to €283, while the face value for the most expensive tickets on the official Rugby World Cup site were €252.