With just a couple of weeks until the Rugby World Cup kicks off, fans are being warned about scammers selling tickets.
The Rugby World Cup will take place at 13 venues across England and Wales from 18th September to 31st October 2015 and there’s been hot competition to get one of the tournament’s 2.5 million tickets.
However, several websites are offering deals that may be too good to be true.
How can you be sure you’re buying a real rugby ticket?
Rugby World Cup ticket rules
In a bid to crackdown on touts, Rugby World Cup 2015 has strict rules about ticket allocation, sales and re-sales.
For most matches the maximum number of tickets one person can buy is four – so be suspicious of any site offering a higher number than this.
Rugby World Cup 2015 also reserves the right to void and cancel any tickets bought from a non-official source, and you won’t get a refund either
Selling or transferring tickets is strictly against the rules and, again, transferred tickets can be cancelled.
However, the well-publicised rules haven’t stopped numerous 'secondary' ticket sellers or online touts trying to flog tickets to matches, often at inflated prices. In some cases the tickets might not even exist.
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Getsporting.com
Consumer champion Which? identified one website – Getsporting.com – that it has big concerns about.
Getsporting.com is selling tickets for sold out matches such as England vs Australia and England vs Wales. However, Which? looked into the company’s track record, and visited several online review sites, and came to the conclusion that consumers are unlikely to receive tickets or could even receive fake ones.
[SPOTLIGHT]Getsporting.com is not an official Rugby World Cup 2015 re-selling site and is operating against the ticketing policy for Rugby World Cup 2015, allowing people to buy up to 10 tickets instead of the official allowance of four.
The law also states that ticket re-selling sites need to outline to consumers which standing or seating area the tickets relate to and the original face value. Getsporting.com is doing neither of these things.
The site is also offering a discount for people who pay using wire transfer – but this method of payment means it’s almost impossible to get your money back if something goes wrong.
Since Which? raised concerns about the site, its phone line was suspended by the National Fraud Investigation Bureau.
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Be on your guard
Various well-known secondary ticket sites, such Seatwave, StubHub and Viagogo, are also selling Rugby World Cup tickets despite not being registered as official re-sale agents for the tournament. Consequently tickets bought on these sites may not be accepted.
Rugby World Cup 2015 has warned about a company called Tournament Management Group AG ("TMG") which appears to be operating closely with unofficial hospitality operators, offering tickets for sale in association with hospitality packages.
Rugby World Cup 2015 says TMG is not an official tournament ticketing agent and not operating in association with official hospitality agents. It says tickets bought via the company are void and could be seized or cancelled, without refund or compensation.
How to buy a genuine ticket
Rugby fans can buy tickets directly from Rugby World Cup 2015 at tickets.rugbyworldcup.com. There are still tickets left for many big matches – the site lists which games you can buy a seat for.
Tickets are also being sold through a handful of registered vendors. You can check whether any ticket agency you come across is on this list at rugbyworldcup.com/buyofficial.
Official supporter tour packages are also still on offer via appointed travel agents offering deals including tickets, accommodation and travel. You can check whether travel agents are registered sellers on the official website. There are also official hospitality packages available, again through RugbyWorldCup.com.
Rugby World Cup 2015 has also set up an official ticket re-sale service which allows fans who are unable to use their tickets to sell then to other fans in a safe and secure way. Crucially, re-sales are all at face value.
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More on scams:
Warning of a likely increase in scam attempts