Ticket scammers target Wellington's Van Gogh Alive experience

The majority of complaints relate to tickets purchased on Viagogo for the Van Gogh Alive experience at the TSB Arena. Photo / Supplied

Complaints are flooding in over ticket scammers taking advantage of Wellington's popular Van Gogh Alive experience.

Wellington NZ, the region's economic development agency, has reported receiving about 30 complaints during January from people who have bought over-priced event tickets from online ticket reseller Viagogo.

The agency is warning the complaints will be just the tip of the iceberg.

The majority of the complaints related to tickets purchased on Viagogo for the Van Gogh Alive experience at the TSB Arena.

A handful of complaints were related to tickets for Jersey Boys at the Opera House.

Wellington NZ Events and Experiences general manager Warrick Dent said both events were top class productions enjoying strong ticket sales.

But he said the experience has been tarnished for those caught out by Viagogo.

"The complaints we've received will be the tip of an unknown-sized iceberg. They have all complained about the inflated cost of tickets after mistakenly assuming Viagogo was the official ticket seller."

Dent urged people buying tickets to events in Wellington NZ venues to visit the official ticket retailer's website, Ticketmaster.

He said it would likely be an issue across the country.

"New Zealand is one of the very few countries in the world able to host big touring events during the pandemic. This would likely have sharpened Viagogo's focus on the country's events market."

The Commerce Commission is taking legal action against Viagogo, alleging it made a number of false representations, including about the price, scarcity and guaranteed validity of tickets sold on Viagogo.

The full case has yet to heard by the courts.

A spokesperson for the Commerce Commission said it urged ticket buyers to purchase from official ticket websites.

"Avoid clicking on the first internet search result you see for an event. Scroll down the page and find the official ticket outlet or if you aren't sure visit the artist's website to find out who the official ticket seller is."

A Viagogo spokesperson said their global online marketplace connected sellers to buyers on "an open, secure platform".

"As it states prominently on the website, viagogo is a secondary marketplace and does not set ticket prices, this is done by the people who use the platform to resell their tickets.

"Tickets that are listed at unreasonable prices get the most media attention but rarely, if ever, sell.

They said issues and complaints related to tickets were "extremely rare".

"No more than 1 per cent of tickets sold worldwide in 2019 had any issues, and in the extremely rare circumstance where an issue arises with a ticket, we will either find a comparable replacement ticket or provide a full refund."