Herald entertainment reporter Lillie Rohan speaks to Swifties queueing up to get merch ahead of tonight's Eras Tour concert at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Video / Megan Watts
A Kiwi woman who endured a stroke that prevented her from flying has criticised Ticketek after its terms and conditions prevented her from selling her ticket to Taylor Swift’s Sydney show this Sunday.
One doesn’t have to be a ‘Swiftie’ to know tickets to the pop star’s show are a hot commodity, with some reselling for upwards of $15,000.
Yet two tickets will be unused this coming weekend after Colleen Piepke and her daughter were prevented from on-selling them after Piepke suffered a stroke on December 29.
On June 28, Piepke and her daughter spent eight hours trying to get tickets to Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras Tour’, along with hundreds of thousands of other fans. in Australia.
They were one of the lucky ones and Piepke’s daughter bought them a $1175 ‘Hotel & Ticket Package’ which included two C-grade seats and one night at Four Points Sheraton. It was a treat for her mother and would be the fifth Swift concert the pair had attended together.
Then, on December 29, Piepke suffered a stroke that meant she “couldn’t manage” travelling to Australia.
“I’m fine but I’m not fine enough to travel and wander around the city for the weekend,” she said.
Fortunately, their flights were easily refunded and credited. Piepke said Air New Zealand gave her “cash credit” for the flight there, while Qantas refunded the return ticket fully and waived the cancellation fee.
Dealing with the tickets was less simple, due to Ticketek’s terms and conditions.
The pair tried to resell the ticket using Ticketek Marketplace, the platform’s secure online marketplace that allows fans to sell one another tickets at fair prices, but they could not.
On January 8, her daughter contacted Ticketek explaining her mother’s condition, sharing a medical certificate and asking for permission to resell the package.
“I would like to sell my tickets but marketplace won’t allow the sale of hotel packages,” she wrote, adding that they didn’t need the full amount back, but were happy to just resell the concert ticket part of the package.
The company responded on February 7, stating the pair had missed the deadline for reselling their package.
“IP Packages and Hotel + Ticket Packages were only able to be sold up until Friday 15 December 2023 5pm AEDT,” they wrote. After this deadline, the resale was not possible due to “administration required for distribution”.
Taylor Swift performs at Melbourne Cricket Ground on February 16, 2024 in Melbourne, Australia. Photo / Getty
Piepke reiterated to the Herald that they didn’t want to resell the hotel stay, but simply the standalone tickets.
“I know so many people I could literally hand them over to,” she said, describing the situation as unacceptable.
“Due to their anti-scalping rules we can’t even give them away to someone desperate to see the show,” she added.
While the pair were disappointed to miss the concert, Piepke said they had accepted the unfortunate circumstances.
