Stuart WoodUPDATE: In a statement posted to Kilimanjaro Live’s Twitter, they said:
“The claims made today by Viagogo are ludicrous, laughable and most importantly totally false.
“This is a transparent attempt to deflect attention away from their upcoming appearance at the DCMS inquiry and the wide-ranging criticisms, multiple legal prosecutions in many territories (including by the Competitions and Markets Authority in the UK) and condemnation of their business practices. Kilimanjaro will defend against this action vigorously and look forward to doing so in court.”
There has been another plot twist in the ongoing secondary ticketing saga, as Viagogo has announced today, 4 September, it is suing Ed Sheeran’s promoter Stuart Galbraith and his firm Kilimanjaro Live.
Sheeran and his team previously took a stand against secondary ticketing, by cancelling tickets which were purchased and resold for a higher price on Viagogo. They claim they refunded fans their money in the wake of this cancellation.
But Viagogo claims that Stuart Galbraith’s firm Kilimanjaro Live, “pocketed millions of pounds in duplicate sales” by “duping” concert attendees. It claims Kilimanjaro itself sold the tickets on Viagogo, and was then paid twice by fans who had their tickets cancelled.
Viagogo claims that it then refunded customers out of its own pocket for these tickets.
This news follows a string of recent incidents regarding secondary ticketing in recent weeks. Just a few days ago, the Competition and Markets Authority announced it was suing Viagogo for failing to comply with consumer protection law.
This came after fellow secondary ticketing sites Get Me In and Seatwave announced they were shutting down, as pressure from fans and artists against secondary ticketing increased.
Prior to this, government legislature was put in place to combat automated ticket bots and resales.
Photo credit: Markus Hillgärtner