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- The Guardian, Friday 21 November 2008
In July, Samantha DaSilva paid Londontickets-express.com £169.52 for entry to the Reading Festival. In August she was told the company had oversold tickets and she would be refunded within 28 days. She wasn't. There are several concerns about the website of London Tickets Express, which claims to be Europe's largest independent ticket retailer. First, it says it offers tickets for Premier League events (though the links don't currently work). It is illegal for agencies to sell such tickets without a contract with the football clubs. Furthermore, the site gives no address or phone number except to mention it is based in Hungary. This is a coincidence. A similar online ticket company, Getmetickets, stung a number of readers by selling non-existent tickets three years ago and was shut down after a government investigation. It, too, was based in Hungary, as were four other ticket agencies, including London Ticket Shop Ltd and Ticket-tout Ltd, which were wound up by the high court earlier this year.
One name linked these latter companies: Michael Rangos, whose involvement was identified by the high court judge, although he denies he had anything to do with them. But he was director of Getmetickets. London Tickets Express accidentally referred to itself as the condemned London Ticket Shop in its FAQs when it launched in February. Yet nine months on it is still trading. The Insolvency Service says it has no documentary evidence of links with Rangos, although it has received "many allegations". Rangos denies involvement and no one at London Tickets Express replies to my email. Happily, DaSilva has now got a refund with the help of her credit card company. We should all beware of websites that omit an address. If in doubt, Google them before parting with any money. And use a credit card so you can claim off your card issuer if things go wrong.
