A woman from Auckland on the Viagogo ticket sale site

Another Kiwi consumer is furious with Viagogo – the ticket resale site targeted by regulators around the world but still a company with which Google is happy to do business.

Marketing Manager Evette Chauvineau said he launched a Google search to get tickets for Norah Jones' Auckland concert earlier this year.

Viagogo is at the top of the search results. Having no obvious indication on Viagogo's website that it was a reseller or a scalper, she assumed it was the official place for to buy tickets.

She duly bought two tickets at $ 275 each, for a total of $ 550.

As she was paying online by credit card, she was angry to discover that various processing and customer service fees had raised this total to $ 680.

Worse had to come. Chauvineau was furious when the final total of his credit card bill amounted to $ 705, as it turned out that the transaction was actually in the Czech crown and had to be converted into New Zealand dollars.

And even worse, in her opinion, she had not actually bought a ticket to Viagogo, which the site would then send to her by mail or email. The site would rather have reached an agreement allowing it to buy the ticket from someone in the Czech Republic who would transfer it to him, by unknown means, between several months or hours before the month of April. from Norah Jones. 23 concert in Auckland.

Chauvineau tried to contact Viagogo, but she only received written answers from what she assumes to be chatbots, her key questions and requests being ignored.

She thinks that she has little hope of seeing her tickets, let alone getting a refund.

She said that she was surprised to see that Google would broadcast search ads placed by Viagogo and that she would tell her story in the hope that other people could avoid finding themselves in the same situation.

Chauvineau is far from alone.

The Commerce Commission has received 587 complaints about Viagogo, making it the most worried trader in the last 18 months.

The complaints involved tickets to various sporting events and live acts of actors such as Celine Dion, Ed Sheeran, Shania Twain and Bruno Mars.

But it's not just big acts that are subject to so-called scams. Last month, an amateur Rotorua theater company was shocked to learn that two tickets for one of its shows, which should have cost $ 32, were on sale on Viagogo for $ 232.36.

In March, the commission issued a public warning entitled "Consumers should seriously consider whether buying from Viagogo is worth it", noting that he was investigating numerous alleged incidents of selling counterfeit or repetitive same ticket.

The regulator also took note of complaints about hidden fees and distorted prices, as well as "consumers never receive tickets they have purchased and are unable to obtain Viagogo for a refund."

The Viagogo dispute resolution process, which requires aggrieved clients to work in a Swiss court, was unreasonable.

In August, the commission followed civil proceedings against Viagogo in the High Court, alleging multiple violations of the fair trade law and demanding an injunction to bargain.

In its lawsuit, the regulator indicated that Viagogo was also sued or executed in Switzerland, Germany, France, Spain, the United Kingdom and Australia. He was fined in Italy and prosecuted by Fifa.

In a September update, the commission warned that due to the complex nature of the case, it may be a while before it is heard by the High Court. Yesterday morning, a date had not been set yet.

In the meantime, the watchdog encourages consumers to continue filing complaints (via this page).

The total of 587 complaints that the commission provided to the Herald today means that the company has filed about 200 other complaints since the beginning of its action before the High Court.

In February, Google changed its policy so that only certified ticket sellers could advertise on its search engine. Its code of conduct requires that the company does not imply that it is the original supplier of the ticket, discloses all fees and displays the ticket's original price alongside the proposed price for sale second hand.

Viagogo does not seem to fulfill all these conditions.

Earlier today, the Herald search on Google for "Shania Twain tickets Auckland."

A Viagogo ad was at the top of Google's list of results for the American singer's two nights at the Auckland Vector Arena in December.

the Herald click on the Viagogo website. Initial prices were not displayed next to resale prices, although the fine print at the bottom of the page is offered "Initial face value price per ticket (excluding booking fees): 11.72 – 427, 1 NZD. "

Viagogo's miscellaneous fees were not posted.

The site uses a number of unconditional sales practices, which implies that tickets are selling quickly. the Herald he's logged in three times in three hours, looking for tickets for the Twain show on Dec. 18. The first time, a message appeared stating that a customer had just bought four tickets. There were only 128 left. This seemed to be a popular number of tickets to buy. In the second and third Herald visits, contextual messages also indicated that four tickets had just been sold. Mysteriously, there were 128 left.

Viagogo has been contacted for comments.

A spokeswoman for Google Australia-New Zealand said the company had not commented on individual advertisers.

"We have detailed advertising policies designed to promote a positive and safe experience for users (see AdWords Policies)." Users may file a complaint if they believe that an advertiser is breaking our rules and policies. we will investigate accordingly "

A spokesman for the Commerce Commission said earlier today that the regulator had not commented on Google's position, nor any other comment on Viagogo, while the case was before the High Court.