Helpful Hints when buying Corporate Hospitality & Tickets
When it is you that has the responsibility for booking VIP Corporate Hospitality or just tickets for events, you really do need to take extra care who you place your business with as, like in any industry, there will be a number of unscrupulous people looking to take your money through scam websites, genuine looking email offers or high pressure phone calls.
Buyer Beware!
VIP Packages and tickets to major sporting, music and special events sell out very quickly, which is very disappointing when you’re really keen to take your top clients and / or top performing employees to the big event. This can make it very tempting to then buy from other sources other than official or the well-established company’s websites. However, more and more people are becoming victims of online scams, paying for VIP packages and tickets that do not exist, being refused entry to an event on the day or revealing their payment card details to an identity thief or fraudsters.
Euro Events Top Tips...
Here are some tips and recommendations based on our 40 odd years in the industry which we hope will be of use to you and your colleagues when looking to buy VIP Packages and event tickets.
General...
• Buy VIP Packages and tickets only from officially appointed agents such as ourselves or other established organisations that have approved links to the venue, the promoter or the participants.
• It is always best if you can obtain referrals from colleagues or other contacts on who to book with.
• If you're not quite sure who you are dealing with then ask to speak to one or two of their clients to reassure yourself before making any commitments. A reputable company will have no problem with this.
• Always check a suppliers payment terms and T&C’s to make sure you understand what they expect and that you know the situation in case you wish to cancel.
• Beware of hospitality agents offering VIP Packages, normally tables of 10, at ‘a great discount as someone has paid their deposit and just cancelled so we can let you have this at a bargain price but for today only’. You normally find that the new offer price is just the same or even higher sometimes as that of others in the market place.
• Do not reply to unsolicited emails from sellers you don’t recognise.
• Do not arrange to meet someone outside a venue to get your tickets unless you already know them and have used them in the past.
Buying Online...
• Always make sure that any website has a full limited name that you can look up on Companies House.
• Make sure the site has good contact details with full office address and a phone number.
• Make sure there is a valid VAT number on the site.
• Don’t use sites that only have a ‘contact us’ button that takes you to an online email enquiry form.
• Avoid like the plague sites that are based abroad. You will find difficulties reclaiming your money or getting a refund if they don’t provide your tickets and reporting it to the authorities will be even more difficult as they use it as an excuse to wash their hands of it.
• If you need to check a website go to www.who.is and type in the website name in the bar. Hit enter and it will tell you where and who the website is registered to. Just scroll down to the part where it says ‘registrant’. If it’s overseas, a P.O. Box address or anonymous, don’t buy from it.
• Before entering payment card details on a website, ensure that the link is secure, in three ways –
1. There should be a padlock symbol in the browser window frame, which appears when you attempt to log in or register. Be sure that the padlock is not on the page itself… this will probably indicate a fraudulent site.
2. The website address should begin with ‘https://’. The ‘s’ stands for secure.
3. If using the latest version of your browser, the address bar or the name of the site owner will turn green.
• Don’t buy from eBay or Gumtree unless you like gambling and are happy to accept that you might not get your tickets or a refund. There is little protection here and a number of scams have been successfully run via these sites.
• Read the website Terms & Conditions and make sure you are happy to commit to them.
• Remember that paying by credit card offers greater protection than other methods in terms of fraud, guarantees and non-delivery. Double check all details of your VIP Package / ticket purchases before confirmation online.
• Check sellers’ cancellation, privacy and returns policies.
• Keep receipts in case of discrepancies later.
• Check credit card and bank statements carefully after purchase to ensure that the correct amount has been debited, and also that no fraud has taken place as a result of the transaction.
• Always log out of sites into which you have logged in or registered details. Simply closing your browser is not enough to ensure privacy.
… and finally:
If you think that you been a victim of fraud, you should obviously report it to your bank and / or credit card company straight away but also to Action Fraud, the national fraud reporting centre by calling 0300 123 20 40 or by visiting www.actionfraud.police.uk.
