A furious couple missed Elton John's farewell gig due to not being able to access their tickets, they have claimed.
Neil Grieves, 67, and Brenda Maughan, 60, from Ashington, purchased two tickets to the concert through Ticketmaster, costing a total of £261.45.
But when the couple went to print out their tickets at home they did not show up on their account.
Neil claims he tried to contact the company multiple times but he could not get in touch with anyone. He said they ended up missing the show in Sunderland on Sunday night, which is part of The Rocket Man's last ever tour.
The retired gardener said: "I was angry, if you pay for something it should be there waiting for you - not just vanish. It was saying there were no tickets in forthcoming events so I thought they must have put them in past events, but there was nothing in there either.
There was nothing there at all. I was panicking. I thought where have the tickets gone.
"It must be the hardest place to contact. There wasn't a phone number to ring. It's like trying to contact the secret service when trying to find an email address. I must have sent about 10 emails and I still haven't got a reply.
"We're big fans of Elton John. We couldn't get there during the 70s, he wasn't in Newcastle very often. We're not going to see him anymore. My birthday was on the 14th and I was looking forward to going for that. It's very upsetting to be let down and not get any apology."
Elton's Farewell Tour was announced in June last year and Brenda said they decided to cut back on buying gifts for each other due to the cost of the tickets. She said: "We booked the concert as soon as we heard about it. I just want to sit and cry, it's heart-breaking. I was looking forward to it.
"We didn't buy each other gifts for Christmas or for birthdays because of the amount the tickets cost. We did without birthday boxes and Christmas boxes because we were going to see Elton John.
"I was bragging to my friends because they wanted to go and it was sold out. I said 'I'm going to see Elton John' and look what's happened."
The couple, who enjoy live music, have visited other venues, including the Sage Gateshead a number of times. They said this is the first time that they have purchased tickets through Ticketmaster.
Neil and Brenda went on two day trip to Southampton and arrived back on Friday, June 17 - two days before the concert was due to take place. However when they returned home they were unable to access their tickets online.
Neil said: "When I went onto my account before I went on holiday it said 'tickets aren't ready yet'. Ticketmaster get plenty of money for doing this so I can't understand why it takes so long to get them ready. We have had them tickets for months.
"When I got back on Friday I had a look and there was nothing there. They had just vanished. It was as if I hadn't paid for any tickets. I thought what has happened here.
"People are supposed to rely on these systems to get tickets. I don't know if anyone else got the same treatment as us."
Ticketmaster told Chronicle Live that they have refunded Neil and Brenda as a gesture of good will. Neil said he appreciates the company's offer of a refund.
