Customers of the Xclusive companies who did not receive their tickets and are willing to assist the Serious Fraud Office with its enquiries are invited to fill in the questionnaire by clicking this link to the Serious Fraud Office's website.
The five people were arrested during raids as part of an Xclusive online ticket fraud investigation after complaints about failure by companies to supply online at least 4,000 tickets for events such as the Beijing Olympics and music festivals in the UK, such as the V Festival, Reading Festival, and Leeds Festival.
Four men (ages 41, 50, 51 and 54) and a woman (49) were arrested, interviewed and released on unconditional bail, and four addresses in the London area were searched yesterday by Serious Fraud Office investigators and officers of the Metropolitan Police Service. The searches took place throughout the day and into the evening. The addresses comprised three residential properties and one business property.
Commenting on the case, the Director of the Serious Fraud Office, Richard Alderman said, "People thinking of buying tickets on-line should be vigilant and always check the supplier's credentials. In this particular case we know that many thousand consumers lost money and suffered disappointment that they could not attend events that many of them had spent years dreaming about and I urge those people who bought tickets through Xclusive to come forward with information."
The case opened in September 2008 following a referral to the Serious Fraud Office from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and was prompted after complaints from the buying public. The companies entered liquidation in September 2008.
If ticket buyers suspect they have been a victim of a ticket fraud but it does not relate to the Xclusive companies, they should report it separately at Consumer Direct (a telephone and online consumer advice service operated by the Office of Fair Trading in conjunction with Local Authority Trading Standards Services. The report can be made by filling in the online form by clicking here or by calling 08454 04 05 06.
Although the vast majority of online ticket sales websites are bona fide, the Serious Fraud Office recommends that the public should exercise vigilance when buying online and in particular advises that:-
(1) Sellers in England and Wales of match tickets for FA Premiership, Football League, League Cup and FA Cup games, Conference League and for UEFA and FIFA matches must in law be authorised to do so by the clubs, the leagues or the venues. So, before buying online people should check with any of these to ensure that the ticket agency is authorised. Buying from unauthorised agencies could result in no ticket, a forged ticket or risk through lack of supporter segregation.
(2) For non-football tickets, secondary sale is not illegal but often the terms of their issue prohibit their transfer for profit. Tickets sold in such a manner by an unauthorised agency could be cancelled by the venue or the promoter or may be forgeries. People should check with the venue or promoter before buying.
(3) When checking the credentials of a ticket agency, many internet bulletin boards comment on the service it provides. Though the accuracy of the comments cannot be verified they can highlight agencies that attract a number of complaints about non-supply or non-refund.
There is just one outlet which we suggest for the buying or selling of spare tickets - www.scarletmist.com. This enables true music fans to buy and sell tickets at the face value price.
If you've been the victim of a rip-off ticketing company we suggest the following actions:-
1. Call the police; it is theft if your money has been taken and no product delivered.
2. Report the company to Trading Standards.
3. Contact the BBC's watchdog programme (here).
4. Contact the websites' Internet Service Providers as they have obligations to ensure they are not publishing fraudulent and illegal activity.
5. Contact your credit card company. They should be obliged to refund your money under "section 75" of the Consumer Credit Act.
Do not purchase tickets from unofficial or secondary ticket outlets or auction sites as they often are unable to supply the tickets, and might not even give you a refund - there are a lot of dodgy operators out there! You can find a list of agents we think you should avoid on our forums by clicking here.
Festival goers are best advised to treat offers of tickets for sold out events with great suspicion, and only make online purchases from trusted sites, and not part with their money once a festival has sold out. If you can't get tickets to one festival then why not consider buying tickets to another festival instead?