Neville Root shelled out more than £700 but he and his girlfriend were left heartbroken when he checked his phone the morning of the gig
Neville and his girlfriend had tickets but are now unable to attend the gig due to a selling mishap(Image: Neville Root/MEN)
An Oasis fan who has spent years desperately waiting for the Gallagher brothers to reunited has said the £700 he forked out for tickets to one of their gigs was “essentially spent on thin air”. Neville Root, 20, was due to see the brothers perform at their third night at Heaton Park on Wednesday, July 16, along with his girlfriend.
The die-hard fan, who has seen both Liam and Noel perform individually numerous times, said “money was no object” when it came to the rare chance of seeing the band perform live. But the excitement soon disappeared when he was told the two tickets he had bought, through ticket resale website Twickets, had actually been sold to another customer through the resale option on Ticketmaster.
The couple had both booked the day off from work and were excited about making the trip from Preston to Manchester when they received the news they were unable to go on the morning of the show, leaving them with no other option than to miss it and try and claim a refund. Including booking fees, they shelled out £724, the Manchester Evening News reports.
The original seller of the tickets, based in Australia, had booked two of them before the band announced their additional world tour dates, which include performances in Sydney and Melbourne later this year.
Neville, originally from Bolton, said: “Having looked forward to a potential reunion for many years, I was desperate to get hold of two tickets. I’ve seen Liam and Noel’s solo projects several times so was dismayed that I’d missed out on both the presale opportunity and also tickets in the general sale.
“I persevered and followed the guidance to use the only ‘official’ resale site, Twickets. I was made up when I managed to secure two tickets in early January to see them in Heaton Park.
“For me, this was the one gig where money was no object. But over £700 is a whole month’s rent. It’s more money than most 20-year-olds can spare on gig tickets, but I didn’t want to miss the opportunity.
“I emailed back and forth with the seller, a man from Australia, who had bought the Manchester tickets prior to the announcement of the Australian leg of the tour. No alarm bells rang, and he forwarded me all the confirmation emails from the original ticket purchase.”
A number of months went by before Neville got back in touch with the original seller of the tickets, who told him that they could not be transferred over within the Ticketmaster app until closer to the time. The transfers are usually carried out between 48 and 24 hours of the gig.
It was not until the morning of Wednesday’s show that the seller informed Neville that the tickets were showing as ‘sold’ within the Ticketmaster app, meaning he had listed the two tickets on both resale sites – which is directly against the Twickets’ seller policy.
A response from Twickets said: “I am sorry to hear what has happened. If the tickets appear as ‘sold’ in [the seller’s] Ticketmaster account, than that would indicate that they have also listed and sold them on Ticketmaster resale, in contravention of the terms and conditions of our site unfortunately.
“We therefore have no alternative but to withdraw the sale and issue you with a full refund, which should show on your card account in the next 2-3 working days.”
“The most frustrating thing now is just not being able to go,” Neville added. “On one hand, I haven’t lost out financially but it’s the fact that there isn’t much safeguarding in place and that sellers can do this.
“They had already been sold in January but I didn’t find out until the day of the show. We are incredibly disappointed after making travel arrangements, booking annual leave and purchasing t-shirts in preparation for today only to be told the morning of the event that we wouldn’t be able to go.
“I feel as though we have been led down the garden path with having instruction to be patient and purchase resale tickets only to then to find these weren’t legitimate to begin with.
“I’ve essentially spent over £700 on thin air, and left with no chance of sorting it now because it’s all so last minute. Had I have known months ago, I may have had a chance. This wasn’t just like buying a ticket for a band who comes round every year, this was a big deal.”