Ticketmaster is once again under scrutiny after Bad Bunny fans were turned away from a Mexico City concert despite owning legitimate tickets.
On Dec. 9, rows of empty seats were visible at the 80,000+ capacity Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, the final stop on the Puerto Rican star’s ‘World’s Hottest Tour’—despite the event being sold out.
Fans who had authentic tickets were left out in the cold as more people showed up than anticipated, many with fake, duplicate or canceled tickets.
In an apology on Twitter, Ticketmaster Mexico cited an ‘unprecedented’ number of fake tickets, which overwhelmed ticket takers and Ticketmaster’s ticket verification system.
“Ticketmaster offers an apology to fans and is announcing a reimbursement for customers who bought legitimate tickets and weren’t able to access today’s Bad Bunny concert,” the statement read.
“The access issues were a consequence of an unprecedented number of false tickets presented, which caused an extraordinary crowd and an intermittent operation of our system. This generated confusion and complicated admission to the stadium, with the regrettable consequence that some legitimate ticket holders were denied entrance.”
Ticketmaster also said it would assist law enforcement in preventing ticket fraud, and that it had contacted Mexico’s consumer protection agency, PROFECO.
The venue itself also issued a statement adding that it canceled reported fake tickets to “guarantee the safety” of attendees.
Ticketmaster under fire
This follows a number of complaints Ticketmaster has received in recent months. Taylor Swift fans were devastated after the website crashed when they tried to get tickets for the singer’s hotly-anticipated 2023 Eras Tour.
The company was forced to cancel the public on-sale date in November following “extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand.”
Fans are now opting to sue the site over the debacle, while the company is also facing scrutiny for overall antitrust concerns and a potential “monopoly” over the industry.
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