After missing out on the lottery for tickets to the Carabao Cup Final, I decided to look on the internet for tickets, as I am sure many other fans did.
As a Gold Member and season ticket holder since 1970, I have always been fortunate enough to obtain cup final and Community Shield tickets, so it came as a shock to be told, by email, that I had missed out this time.
A Costly Mistake
Thinking that this meant the club had sold out its allocation straight away, I immediately searched the internet and found a website called “VIP SEATS” and was surprised to find that they had 22 seats available. Of course, they were expensive, but I wanted to go, could afford the money required, and decided to spend £110 for a lower-tier seat.
Such was my desire to go and watch our club win its first silverware in six years, I did not carry out proper due diligence. I only checked the references on the site, which all seemed positive, so I went ahead and purchased my seat.
Within minutes, an email came back thanking me for the purchase and informing me that I would receive my ticket five days before the final, so far so good.
However, five days before the fateful day, nothing had arrived, so I sent them an email asking for my money to be returned. I received a reply within seconds stating that all tickets had been sent out and would be with everyone before the weekend.
A Warning to Others
Of course, nothing arrived, and I returned to the website to find many messages from fellow Gooners who had done the same thing as me and had not received their tickets.
One poor supporter had bought two tickets for his son and himself, booked overnight accommodation for just under £500, and lost the lot.
Meanwhile, the club had sent me a second email saying I had been fortunate enough to have been allocated a seat in the second ballot. Of course, thinking I had secured mine from VIP TICKETS, I did not apply.
Then I received a phone call from Phil (PAL) asking if I had a ticket and whether we could meet up. After explaining the situation, Phil kindly offered me his spare seat, as his partner could not attend, and that is how I eventually got to see the game.
The reason for this article is to warn others that, no matter how desperate one is to watch our club play, due diligence and common sense should always come first when buying online.
I am currently in the process of trying to recover my money via American Express, who, by the way, have been excellent and, fingers crossed, I will get the £110 back.
A long-winded explanation of me being completely foolish, but hopefully a warning to others not to fall into the same trap as I did.
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Ken
I’m sorry you went through this and happy you got to go in the end
thank you for sharing this as funnily enough a couple of months ago my brother sent me a link to VIP site and like you said tickets were going for that price
we were thinking about it so thank you for letting us know it was a scam
No problem Dan and I do hope others are not conned and if this article helps, I’m more than happy.
It seems that I’m one of the lucky ones, as I’ve just been informed by Amex that I’ve got my money back!!
what put me off is I almost thought it was too good to be true
like you hear these sites charging over the odds
so I thought 110 to see my team at Wembley is worth it
Ken1945,
Sorry to hear that you were scammed. But seeing how the team played on the day, you were scammed twice sadly.
The most frustrating thing though Derek, was how the tean folded from the beginning of the second half.
Tgere was no sign or warning that this was going to happen and folks around us were laughing and upbeat.
In retrospect, the highlight of the day, was meeting Aaron Ramsey and after that, getting my money back from these tossers who con people, rather than doing a honest days work!!
Ken1945,
Bearing in mind our recent conversations regarding me using the word fleeced.
I think on this occasion, you’ll agree with me when I say you were fleeced by these on line parasites.
Fleeced, shorn and done up like a kipper Derek – at least I got my money back, but those poor sods who booked travel, accommodation etc lost all that hard earned money.
Ken1945,
I hear you.
@Ken1945
Thanks for posting.
“VIP SEATS” is noted.
Glad to hear you’ll be reimbursed/covered.
*I appreciate the caveat.
Ouch! What an awful thing to have happened. Pleased- despite the result – you got there in the end. A lesson for us all., sadly.
Ken, sorry to read about you being scammed. Scammers really are w⚓️s.
My mate and his son, who you met in the cafe, also failed in the lottery for Cup Final tickets, but managed to get a pair courtesy of one of his suppliers.
My fault for not doing due diligence HD, but I thought it worthwhile warning others.