Customers' 'stress' as event tickets fail to arrive
Martin Allcock took legal action to get money back from his promised gig tickets
- Published
Customers across the south-east of England have said they have been let down by a Sussex-based ticket agency.
Sport and music fans have said they were left "stressed" when tickets purchased from The Event Manager Sussex Ltd failed to arrive.
A Facebook group with almost 600 members has been set up to chase the company's owner Mark Powell for refunds.
Mark Powell, who is based in Worthing in West Sussex, told the BBC that his limited company "hasn’t operated for nearly 18 months" and that he "wouldn’t be trading on social media platforms any more".
Ivor Rao, Kari Perry and Lisa Hillyard all say they bought tickets from The Event Manager Sussex Ltd
Ivor Rao, Kari Perry and Lisa Hillyard are Surrey-based friends who say they purchased tickets they never received from Mr Powell and are among the hundreds of people trying to get their money back.
Ms Perry, from Kingswood, said: "It's the same situation. They have all lost hundreds or thousands of pounds.
"He's caused me so much stress over the last couple of years."
Ms Hillyard, from Burgh Heath, said: "He probably owes me around £490."
Mr Rao, also from Kingswood, said: "Really it needs to stop."
Martin Allcock, from Ashford in Kent, said he purchased tickets for several gigs from Mr Powell, including one for the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
He said: "He was absolutely confident he could get me tickets for the gig.
"The tickets never turned up."
He said he was promised refunds and only got his money back after taking legal action.
Derek Taylor said he did not receive his tickets for a match at Twickenham
Derek Taylor, from Bristol, said he got a refund but it was "not all it seemed" after purchased tickets for a game at Twickenham failed to materialise.
He said his bank froze his account after £499 was deposited into it.
Mr Taylor said: "They were concerned it was a Ponzi scheme and they had to investigate my account.
"It was very frustrating."
An undercover BBC reporter contacted Mr Powell for Oasis tickets in advance of them going on sale on Saturday and said she was offered some.
Mr Powell has denied selling any Oasis tickets.
He said in a statement that he had had "personal problems" and said a lot of his business difficulties were "related to Covid".
He said: "Back in 2022 I explained to customers what had happened and apologised to them on my website."
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