Viagogo had over 1,000 tickets on its site for TRNSMT festival listed by mystery traders that had never been purchased, an investigation has revealed.
Touts had listed 1,129 tickets that had not yet been purchased and were attempting to trade the tickets, which is a criminal offence under the Fraud Act 2006. The tickets were also listed for a total asking price of £579,607 when the face value only came in at £104, 510.
On the findings made by the Daily Record, Geoff Ellis, chief executive of DF Concerts & Events, which hosts TRNSMT, said: “The information that you have brought to light is disgraceful, appears very sinister and must be investigated by the authorities with appropriate action taken.
“As popular as TRANSMT is, it isn’t yet sold out and it’s obvious that tickets are not actually being sold at these ridiculous amounts, nor would any touts on Viagogo actually have these quantities of tickets.”
On the same day that this investigation was published, the UK’s Competition Markets Authority (CMA) called for changes to the law and regulations, to stop consumers being ripped off by “unscrupulous” resellers.
It was found that only 53 tickets were listed by consumers who genuinely wanted to resell their tickets. This is contrasted by a Sofia Wagner of Munich, Germany who had over 700 tickets, which the Daily Record reports have not actually been purchased.
The news outlet also said that Wagner is not known at the address that is supplied on Viagogo’s listing. While these tickets will not sell due to the inflated asking price – a total of £485,400 – these ticket listings affect the market.
TRNSMT Festival runs September 10 to 12 at Glasgow Green in Glasgow, and boasts headline acts such as The Chemical Brothers, Liam Gallagher, Blossoms and Snow Patrol.
Image: Jay Wennington on Unsplash
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