Not only were they for a different event but the tickets arrived four days after the final match whistle had blown.
"I was absolutely gutted, and I thought 'sh*t I've been scammed'," he said.
He realised now a lot of people knew of the reported troubles with Viagogo but he had no idea at the time, he said.
A back and forth of emails was exchanged between the man and Viagogo, with the company insisting the dodgy tickets be couriered back to the Ireland office.
"I had to put a track and trace on it and provide them with the number so they could see it coming back."
Viagogo promised he would be reimbursed for the courier fees but he never was, he said.
He even threatened legal action only to be told the company did not give money back, he said.
At one point he said he jumped onto LinkedIn and messaged the chief operating officer about the scam but was asked by him instead to contact the customer service desk.
"It was a myriad of bullsh*t, ya know?"
Annoyed, he rang up Netsafe, which encouraged him to call his bank and intiate a charge back.
"Luckily ASB came to the rescue and did a charge back."
After passing seven days without the company addressing the problem he was "stoked" to get the money back.
Viagogo did then finally send the man what appeared to be an Andrea Boccelli concert ticket but he said he felt like he could not trust the company and could not fly half way around the world on its promise.
He ended up going to House of Travel to help ensure he purchased a legitimate ticket to the concert in late July.
The Commerce Commission launched an investigation into the website in the middle of last year after hundreds of complaints from people who had bought fake tickets through the site.
In March, the Commerce Commission issued a warning asking consumers to consider whether or not it was worth the risk of dealing with the company.
At the time they had received complaints about Viagogo related to concerts including Celine Dion, Ed Sheeran, Shania Twain and Bruno Mars.
A spokesperson confirmed the investigation against Viagogo was continuing.
Complaints included:
• Viagogo making representations that they were the official ticket seller not a reselling website.
• Additional fees not being adequately disclosed.
• Consumers being sold fake tickets or the same ticket being sold multiple times.
• Consumers purchasing tickets that do not have the seating, access or other attributes that were advertised.
• Viagogo making representations that the number of tickets are limited or selling very quickly, creating a sense of urgency to make the purchase.
• Consumers never receiving the tickets they purchased and being unable to get hold of Viagogo to receive a refund.
A Consumer NZ spokeswoman said the complaints they had received about Viagogo ranged from tickets never turning up to consumers being sent fake tickets.
"The most common complaints are about the inflated cost of tickets and extra fees being added to the price.
"Our investigation of the market found many purchasers who end up on resale websites don't know they're dealing with a reseller."
The loss of money to Kiwis was unknown but "the cost in individual cases can be significant, adding up to thousands of dollars".
Viagogo has been approached by the Herald for comment but is yet to respond.
