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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Anna Tims

Viagogo charged me about 50% in fees on top of my ticket cost

Despite an official crackdown, online ticket resellers were ordered to make tax and fees clear in ticket prices.
Despite an official crackdown, online ticket resellers were ordered to make tax and fees clear in ticket prices. Photograph: Alamy

I bought two tickets from Viagogo displayed at €32 each.

After our payment had been processed, a pop-up informed us we had been charged a €16 booking fee, a handling fee and VAT on top of the displayed price.

All in all, this came to about €30 over the advertised price of the tickets. When you’re a student, that’s a week’s worth of groceries.

AJ, London

The extra fees are only mentioned on the checkout page and then you have to scroll down to notice them. Some customers have found three-figure sums in extras added to their payment.

The website’s help centre mentions the existence of fees to cover the costs, but states, unhelpfully, they vary depending on the event.

Viagogo declined to comment but merely sent a link to an FAQ page that makes no mention of fees.

The ticket reselling giant appears to be defying the Advertising Standard’s Authority crackdown last month on misleading ticket pricing.

The regulator announced that it had ordered four reselling websites, including Viagogo, to make tax and fees clear in its advertised ticket price, after receiving complaints from FanFair Alliance, an organisation which campaigns against online ticket touting.

If you need help email Anna Tims at your.problems@observer.co.uk or write to Your Problems, The Observer, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Include an address and phone number. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to our terms and conditions: see http://gu.com/letters-terms

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