A terminally ill man and his daughter were scammed out of tickets for the All Blacks clash with the Springboks at QBE Stadium last Saturday night.
Bree wanted to treat her 53-year-old terminally ill father, Tom, to his first live All Blacks game and went in search of tickets.
Afterfinding that tickets had sold out she came across resale company Viagogo where she bought two tickets for $302 despite the original sale price being $89 for each ticket.
However, their dream night out turned to disappointment when they were denied entry and told they had been scammed.
"We tried to scan our tickets but security stopped us and said, 'you have been scammed and cannot enter along with 10 other victims who purchased tickets from the same site', Bree told the Herald.
This is one of the two tickets Bree purchased from Viagogo. Photo / Supplied
Bree says she is not sure whether her father, who is dying of cancer, will ever get the chance to see the All Blacks live.
"After being denied entry my Dad didn't even want to go to the pub to watch. He was so devastated. We don't know if he'll ever get the chance to go to an All Blacks game now.
"He was so excited to go. It's pretty stink.
"It's not about the money, it's the fact that someone who is dying of cancer and was excited to go to his first ever All Blacks game was scammed. It's pretty disappointing."
Bree emailed Viagogo just hours after the game and has now sent a total of 12 emails over the following days.
Viagogo has yet to reply, leaving the 26-year-old frustrated.
Bree received an email from Viagogo confirming the purchase of two tickets to the All Blacks game. However, the ticket had already been used when she tried to get into QBE Stadium. Photo / Supplied
"You could not reply back to their email that provides a link saying 'contact us this way'.
"It's been going round and round in circles. I've still yet to get a reply.
"I asked them for a full refund and said I'd advise the police over it but they still haven't responded."
It's not the first time fans have been left let down by Viagogo after a woman was sold dud Adele tickets to her Auckland concert.
Deborah Light believed she had snapped up two VIP tickets for $1000 only to be reduced to tears when her printed tickets arrived to show they were for standard entry, worth just $99.90 each.
Another fan faced potential disaster when her $1361 wheelchair accessible tickets turned out to be regular access tickets, and a couple were turned away at the gates when the tickets they paid $1700 for turned out to be invalid.
Viagogo, the site they all bought from, is under fire in Australia for allegedly selling falsely advertised tickets at over-inflated prices.
Members of the public have taken to Viagogo's Facebook page over the past 12 months to hurl abuse at the company.
A number of commenters have complained about the service, calling the overseas company "ripoff merchants", "scum bags", "scammers", "rats" and "unethical thieves".
Promoters regularly issue warnings and reminders to avoid reselling sites, and often undertake measures to try to quash scalping.
A Ticketek spokesman told the Herald that Viagogo were deceptive and disgraceful.
"Ticketek has no relationship with Viagogo whatsoever and we regard their online scalping activities as disgraceful.
"Online resellers run a business built on misleading and deceptive conduct that rips off unwitting consumers and causes commercial damage to venues, sports bodies, promoters and artists.
"Ticketek urges consumer affairs regulators to crack down on the conduct of all online resale websites and help educate the public to this scourge."
In a previous statement to the Herald, a Ticketmaster spokesman said the secondary market was undoubtedly helpful, but controlling it was an uphill battle.
"Ticketmaster Resale provides a platform for fans to sell unwanted tickets and a safe purchase option for events. Ticketing marketplaces are dynamic and react to demand.
"With high-profile events, tickets are sometimes listed at prices higher than the face value, but they will often be listed at or below face value as well. Ticket holders, not Ticketmaster Resale, control the inventory and the price of the tickets.
"We need stronger up-to-date legislation and greater enforcement, as well as the wider ticketing industry working together, to prevent people who want to deny real fans the opportunity to get tickets."
Viagogo was founded in London in 2006 while its current headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland.
Viagogo is yet to respond to Herald requests for comment.
