“Is Viagogo reliable?”, “Is it safe to buy tickets on Viagogo?”, “Is Viagogo a scam?”, “Is Viagogo a fraud?” … These and many other queries are made daily by many users on the networks. Viagogo, an acronym that gives its name to one of the world’s largest ticket-buying and selling portals, has received much criticism in recent months about the integrity of the tickets and their prices. Are all these accusations true, or is Viagogo reliable? We see it below.
REASONS WHY VIAGOGO IS RELIABLE
Despite the criticism by users about Viagogo, the London-based website is a completely legal company. Let’s look at some of the reasons why Viagogo is reliable.
ACCEPTS PAYMENTS VIA PAYPAL
That’s how it is. The ticket sales page accepts any payment via PayPal, with all the advantages this entails.
If there is a problem with the ticket or the product purchased, we can request a refund of the amount through PayPal if Viagogo does not intercede.
TICKETS ARE ORIGINAL
Generally, the tickets sold through the Viagogo page are original. The page in question has a system that verifies the tickets’ authenticity based on the sellers’ data.
GUARANTEE IN CASE OF PROBLEMS WITH TICKETS
Viagogo offers a limited guarantee whose coverage includes up to 10 days after the ticket purchase and up to 5 days after the event celebration if there has been a problem with the ticket or with the event itself. In both periods, the company ensures the following:
- Viagogo will intercede to purchase replacement tickets at a similar price or refund the purchase amount.
THE MONEY WILL NOT REACH THE VENDOR UNTIL AFTER THE EVENT
To ensure that tickets are authentic, Viagogo does not send a payment for tickets to the selling party until five days after the event is held.
Suppose an incident related to the integrity of the tickets has been detected (forgery, duplicate…). In that case, Viagogo will not send the money in any way to the seller or seller in question.
REASONS WHY VIAGOGO IS UNRELIABLE
Not everything that glitters is gold, and even less so on a website for buying and selling tickets, where its operation is more similar to that of Wallapop and Vibbo than that of a website like Entradium or Ticketea.
IT IS A TICKET RESALE WEBSITE… WITH ALL THAT THIS ENTAILS
If it was unclear to you, Viagogo is a ticket resale portal. This means their final price is significantly higher than the original tickets. We are talking about values exceeding 200% of their original value since the ticket seller sets the price and not so much by the platform.
This is why the ticket does not have the original name of the buyer nor the price paid through Viagogo, something that, in certain cases, can play against us if the Identity Documents are required at the venue of the event.
TICKETS CAN NOT BE RETURNED
Although Viagogo has a maximum period of 10 days after the purchase of the ticket and five days after the event is held for claims in the event of a problem with the ticket, the website does not establish any return period in case of disagreement for the price of the same or other reasons. Which in Spanish means we will not be able to return the tickets for whatever reason.
SOME ENTRIES MAY BE FALSE
Although Viagogo has “a system to verify the authenticity of the tickets,” the truth is that this is not infallible.
In many cases, we have seen how fake tickets have been sold through Viagogo, such as the notorious case of the Shakira concert in Madrid. The only points of sale where the tickets are original are those indicated by the event in question, and the distributor will not be responsible for the same amount if the tickets are false or duplicated.
LIMITED, VERY LIMITED WARRANTY
Referring again to the terms described by Viagogo on its website, the guarantee offered by the website is very limited. And is that once the 10 and 5 days have elapsed after the purchase of the tickets and the event, we will not be able to claim Viagogo in any way, taking charge of the total amount of the same.
VIAGOGO REVIEWS BY CUSTOMERS
What better way to assess the reliability of Viagogo than through its customers?
Currently, the web reaches one of the worst positions on pages such as TrustPilot, one of the best-known portals to assess the attention of online stores.
The high price of the tickets, many others that do not arrive, several counterfeit, and others that are mere duplicates of other original tickets. You can see the opinions in full at this link.
SO IS VIAGOGO SAFE TO BUY?
From our point of view, no. Although the page is legal and offers certain coverage against counterfeit tickets, the general experience of its customers and the high price of the tickets mean that Tuexperto.com does not recommend buying tickets on Viagogo.
Added to the illegality of reselling tickets in Spain, according to Article 3.1 of the Civil Code, the best way to get tickets for a certain event is to resort to the usual points of sale.
I am a writer with eight years of experience writing in business and technology. I always carry a passion for learning and discovering new knowledge.