Photo Credit: Jezael Melgoza
Ticketmaster has apologized to Bad Bunny fans who were turned away from the concert in Mexico City.
According to Ticketmaster, an ‘unprecedented‘ number of fake tickets were scanned at the event. That caused their systems to become overwhelmed, which led to hundreds of actual ticket holders being told their tickets were counterfeit. Angry fans who were denied entry began trying to climb stadium fencing and were detained by security.
Ticketmaster says it will be offering refunds to those who purchased legitimate tickets. It is working with Mexico’s Office of the Federal Prosecutor for the Consumer to “clarify facts, attend to and reply to affected consumers.” Fans paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to attend the concert were turned away.
Ricardo Sheffield, head of Mexico’s consumer protection agency Profeco says Ticketmaster will be fined up to 10% of their sales for all of last year for the fiasco. They also must reimburse affected fans 100% of the ticket price plus 20% extra in compensation for the issue. Sheffield contends that Ticketmaster knowingly oversold tickets and attempted to cover it up by claiming the tickets were counterfeit.
“Ticketmaster said [the tickets] were fake, but they were all issued by them. It’s a very elegant way to oversell,” Sheffield said while speaking on Radio Formula about the issue. The 85,000 seat Azteca Stadium was surrounded by chaos on Friday following overcrowding and repeated failures with the ticketing systems.
“Elements of Ticketmaster detected cases of duplication and/or falsification of tickets for tonight’s concert, a situation that is totally alien to the Azteca Stadium,” the venue said in its statement on Friday evening. “Affected persons are encouraged to lodge their complaints directly with the Ticketmaster service.”
Ticketmaster is also facing an investigation into its handling of Taylor Swift Eras tour ticket sales. Many verified fans who were told they were the priority to buy tickets report being unable to purchase tickets. Following this news, the presale for tickets was shutdown.