Bay of Plenty woman 'one of the lucky ones' to get $1700 refund for fake Adele tickets from Viagogo

The fake Adele tickets resulted in an ASB disputes process that reversed the Visa card payment, and a High Court action against Swiss firm Viagogo initiated by the Commerce Commission. Photo / File

A Bay of Plenty woman who paid close to $2,000 for Adele concert tickets off Viagogo, was shocked when they showed up with fake names on them and the wrong prices.

Ruth Kowalewicz is one of hundreds of New Zealanders who have been caught out by the controversial ticket reselling site.

The Commerce Commission announced today that it will take the Swiss-owned company to the High Court under the Fair Trading Act for breaching consumer law.

It will also seek an injunction to restrain Viagogo from further breaches.

Kowalewicz, who lives near Whangamata, says her daughter purchased four Adele concert tickets as a surprise in November last year.

The tickets cost $325 each for one of the pop star's Auckland shows.

When Kowalewicz printed off the tickets a couple of days before the concert, she noticed they didn't have her name or the correct price on them and contacted Viagogo immediately.

She says she felt "sick" about it and her husband decided he didn't want to risk being turned away. Her daughter who bought the tickets, who had just given birth a few weeks prior, also pulled out.

Kowalewicz says she and her other daughter decided to buy two more tickets at around $300 each from Ticketmaster in Auckland and went along to the show.

Afterwards, she then went back and forth with Viagogo to try and get her money back.

She reported it to police and then tried with her insurance company but nothing came of it.

After almost two months of battling, Kowalewicz was referred to an ASB disputes and resolutions manager who was able to reverse the Visa card payment.

She got $1700 back almost immediately.

She counts herself as being one of the lucky few to get anything back from Viagogo, and says the experience has taught her to be far more careful online.

Kowalewicz is glad action is being taken against the company and hopes the publicity around them stops more people like her being victimised.

The Commerce Commission alleges Viagogo made false and misleading claims, acting as an "official" concert ticket seller when it was not, labelling tickets as limited or about to sell out and claiming consumers were "guaranteed" to receive valid tickets to events.

It also alleges Viagogo's ticket pricing was misleading, saying 'headline' prices were unobtainable because of the addition of GST and various fees.

The commission joins a long list of international enforcement agencies who are bringing similar cases against Viagogo.

The Swiss company is now facing court or enforcement action in Switzerland, Germany, France, Spain, the UK and Australia.

It has already been fined in Italy and sued by football association Fifa, banned from selling tickets to various World Cup Events.

Since January last year the commission has received more than 400 complaints about Viagogo and Consumer NZ has previously called for action against it after it found 89 per cent of complaints against the company were due to hidden fees.