Rod Stewart fan irate after Ticketmaster changes seat without notice or refund option

Rod Stewart on stage at his first Mission Concert in 2005.

An exasperated Rod Stewart fan will begrudgingly attend this Wednesday’s Dunedin concert for the UK crooner in a seat she did not pay for and does not want - after Ticketmaster changed her location without any consultation.

The fan of the Maggie May rocker abruptly received an email from Ticketmaster this week telling her she would have her elevated seat in the Speights Stand section moved to the floor section of Forsyth Barr Stadium.

The concert-goer says she believes these floor seats were cheaper than the $300 she says she paid for her original seat, and she would never have bought a ticket at ground level because you’re forced to stand up to get a decent view.

“We don’t buy tickets in the floor sections, unless [the seats are] up super-close, because you can’t sit if you’re on the floor - everyone stands up, they’re not elevated so you can’t see anything if you’re short, and we wanted to be able to sit and watch,” the fan said.

“They’ve moved us down to the floor [seats]… Which I’m pretty sure were cheaper seats when tickets originally went on sale.”

The fan also claims there are many people who are in the same situation as her.

“They’ve moved a lot of people, with no prior consultation or offer of a refund. Which I would have expected, considering we are no longer getting what we paid for,” she said.

“It’s just not worth booking things in Dunedin anymore. Ticketmaster isn’t answering people’s messages or comments, and a lot of people have been affected.”

The message from Ticketmaster does not offer any option of a refund for the April 5 concert, and merely states the change as a matter of fact.

“Due to changes in venue configuration, the seating layout for this event has been updated. Due to this change, we have had to relocate your existing seats to new seats within the venue. Don’t worry, you still have equivalent seats from which to see Rod Stewart perform,” the message reads.

“These changes will update in your Ticketmaster account. If you have any issue accessing your updated tickets by the event date, please take your order number and photo ID to the venue box office when you attend to collect your tickets.”

The fan says they will still attend the concert in their new floor seats - but only because they now have no option other than wasting the ticket completely.

“Yes, [I’m] still going as they didn’t offer a choice of a refund or different tickets. I absolutely would not have bought floor tickets, so wouldn’t be going if given the choice,” she said.

Ticketmaster, concert promoter Live Nation and Forsyth Barr Stadium were all approached for comment for this article.

Concert-goers at various New Zealand Ticketmaster concerts last year, such as those headlined by Six60 and The Killers, have also reported experiencing their seats being changed without consultation.

And in November last year, Taylor Swift lashed out at Ticketmaster after it cancelled the public sale of her Eras tour due to “unprecedented” demand.

Fans experienced a nightmare buying experience and hour-long waits to no avail, before the follow-up public sale had to be cancelled.

Swift then hit out at the company in a furious statement posted to her Instagram story, saying she was trying to figure out how to “improve” the failed rollout of tickets.