Hello all! I was planning on spacing out the articles regarding ticket scams but I’ve gotten such nice feedback I thought I’d put out Part 2 sooner rather than later. Last week we covered the dangers of purchasing off the street from scalpers (especially “print at home” tickets), how some scammers resell tickets that have been reported as lost or stolen, deceptive wording on some group travel sites and the use of sites that never deliver tickets at all (sometimes called “mirror sites”).<\/p>\n
Need more convincing that you should only go to official ticket sellers and well researched websites? A lot of scams involve Craigslist. Although Craigslist is a reputable company, there are a lot of tickets scams that are perpetrated through it. Things that should raise a red flag are a suggestion that your purchase will be covered by the Craigslist Purchase Protection Program. Craigslist does not officially back any transaction made through its site. If you’re asked to wire your payment instead of using Paypal, you should see that as a red flag. You should proceed with caution if the seller is overseas or there seems to be an inordinate amount of spelling and grammatical errors in their listing. If the selling price is ever in pounds instead of dollars, don’t make that purchase.<\/p>\n
The next one will make your stomach turn. Every venue has a certain amount of seats dedicated to disabled patrons as part of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This is sometimes referred to as wheelchair or disabled seating. These seats exist so that disabled patrons can attend the game the same way that non-disabled patrons can. Scammers are aware of these seats and know that they typically sell much slower than general seating. This allows for a few different scenarios. Anyone can go online and purchase disabled seating without having to prove that they’re disabled. A lot of venues will call prior to the event and request proof. If you aren’t disabled, your seats will most likely be taken away from you. The issue that comes up (besides taking away seats from people who are truly disabled) is when scammers resell the disabled seats and do not tell the new buyer that the seats are for the disabled. The second purchaser could very well be ejected from the show once they arrive and would have no recourse through the venue.<\/p>\n
The third type of scam is about as repulsive as the one mentioned above. When you’ve got anywhere from 20,000 to 80,000 tickets sold for a sporting event, you’re going to have people who end up not being able to go at the last minute. Many good natured people will bring the extra ticket with them and instead of trying to sell it, will simply give it to a stadium employee outside and request that it be given to a member of the military. It’s a great gesture but one that has been exploited repeatedly. If you hand a stadium employee making $12 an hour a ticket for $150, it’s very tempting and easy for that employee to quickly resell that ticket for $50 or $100. It happens more than you might think. If you’d like to donate your ticket to a member of the military, bring the ticket to the ticket window and ask if they do that type of thing or simply look for an active member of the military yourself.<\/p>\n
The last scam in Part 2 also revolves around stadium employees. This one involves separating you from your tickets once you’re in the venue. Always, I repeat ALWAYS, have your ticket with you. You’ll be asked from time to time to show it, but don’t ever let someone take it away from you (unless you’re exchanging for another one). The first reason is that without it, you can be ejected even if you’ve already been allowed in. The second, many ballparks and stadiums are set up so you need to show your ticket to get access to you actual seating area. Lastly, and this is where the scam comes in, there have been incidents where a staff member will ask for your tickets, keep them, hand them off to someone else and have them scalped outside the venue. With this scenario, you’re now without proof that you paid, you’re without access to your specific seating area and someone outside is now being resold your tickets that will not allow them entry as the tickets have already been scanned in.<\/p>\n
As we mentioned in Part 1, there are tons of other types of scams out there but the ones above are some of the most common. Don’t wait until the day of the event and put yourself at risk by dealing with a scalper. Even if you don’t get tickets at first, you’ve got time to research and find reputable resellers. Once you’re at the venue, HOLD ONTO THAT TICKET and don’t trust a stranger to do the right thing with your extras. Hope you all head a great Mother’s Day and please keep reading!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hello all! I was planning on spacing out the articles regarding ticket scams but I’ve gotten such nice feedback I thought I’d put out Part 2 sooner rather than later. Last week we covered the dangers of purchasing off the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":177,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n