Numerous Red Hot Chili Peppers VIP ticket holders have been left furious and disappointed after they were shunted off to the side of the stage. Photo / Supplied
Numerous Red Hot Chili Peppers VIP ticket holders have been left furious and disappointed after they were shunted off to the side of the stage. Photo / Supplied
Several Red Hot Chili Peppers VIP ticket holders have been left feeling furious and ripped off after they were shunted to the side of the stage and penned in a "cattle cage".
Hundreds of VIP ticket holders forked out more than $450 a ticket to catch an up close and personal experience with the Red Hot Chili Peppers at Auckland's Spark Arena on Friday night.
However, VIP ticket holder Kelly Whitham said when they arrived they were pushed to the side of the stage - while general admission ticket holders were given access to the front of the stage in their place.
This was despite the organiser's concert map showing VIPs would be positioned at the front of the stage.
VIP ticket holders were supposed to be up the front of the stage. Photo / Supplied
Instead, they were penned in the corner and had their view obstructed, Whitham told the Herald.
"When we first walked in we had to go through a specific VIP door and someone then asked us if we wanted to go on Flea or Josh's side of the stage," Whitham explained.
"We thought that was a bit weird as the stadium map showed the whole front was meant to be cordoned off for VIPs.
"We decided to go on Flea's side but when we walked into the stadium the staff directed us to the side of the stage to a penned off area. We were blocked in and weren't allowed to go to any other VIP areas. Everyone was questioning what the hell was going on.
"Our area was cordoned off right under the giant spotlights so our vision was obstructed by the massive lights all night. Flea was in front of us for maybe one song because we were pushed so far to the side. Two-thirds of the front of the stage was all general admission.
"The reason we all paid big money was to get close to the stage, but we had general admission ticket holders right up the front instead."
VIPs were penned in between a fence on the left hand side of the stage. Photo / Supplied
Frustrated with their location, Whitham and several other disgruntled VIP ticket holders decided to complain.
However, instead of staff explaining and solving the situation, they tried to give VIPs a free drink coupon as an apology.
"We complained and asked what the hell was going on. We paid to be up the front as what the ticket entitled us to but the lady just said 'sorry we can't help but here's a free drink coupon' to keep us quiet.
"We paid for VIP. We paid for the front of stage like the map said and we were shoved to the sides and treated like naughty little children in the corner.
"I had to stand further back then what 300 of the standard general admission people got to.
"They just fleeced us all."
Whitham says they were penned in on the side while general admission ticket holders were up the front. Photo / Supplied
Whitham said she purchased a $40 Live Nation goodie bag with concert handouts, but when she asked staff when she would be receiving the bag they said they didn't know anything about it.
Gabby, another VIP ticket holder from Wellington, purchased two tickets for her partner's 40th birthday in the hope of creating a magical night for him.
She told the Herald that the organisers should have done a better job in communicating where the VIP section would be.
"We were told to come between 6pm and 8.30pm so we thought we don't have to rush to be up the front. When we got to the door we were ushered to Flea's side and given our one free drink voucher which was pretty disappointing.
"If we had known the situation I would have never purchased my $450 ticket.
"We paid for what we thought we were going to be getting but what we got, in reality, was poor. The least they could have done was sent out a notification explaining the layout had changed if that was the case.
"The lack of communication was the worst. Our expectation versus reality was really disappointing. The price is one thing, but to not be given the opportunity to understand how the layout was going to be different was frustrating."
Whitham has lodged a formal complaint with Live Nation (the show's promoters), Spark Arena and Ticketmaster with both the concert venue and ticket sellers passing her on to Live Nation.
