A mother from Plymouth was forced to listen to the Spice Girls in a KFC drive-thru during torrential rain after she fell victim to an online ticket 'scam'.

Emma Courtier had travelled to Bristol to watch the 90s girlband and had planned to meet her friends inside the Ashton Gate Stadium, but was unable to do so when she was refused entry and told her ticket had already been scanned.

The 41-year-old purchased the ticket for £61 ticket for the June 10 concert from Stubhub, which on its website states that "every order is 100% guaranteed, with customer service all the way to your seat".

Emma said that she had never purchased a resale ticket before, but due to the 100 per cent guarantee, she believed purchasing the ticket was "safe".

The ticket resale company has since refunded Emma in full and has launched an investigation as to why she was unable to gain entry to the stadium.

After the refusal Emma decided to make "the best of it" and huddled in the chicken restaurant drive-thru during torrential downpours, singing alone to the faint sound of Spice Up Your Life, whilst her friends partied away inside the venue unaware of her situation.

The Mainstone resident said: "I went to Bristol, got to the gate and they scanned my ticket and said that it wasn’t accepted and to go to the box office to try and sort the issue.

"I went to the box office and it turns out that somebody had entered the venue on the ticket a good hour before I arrived. So basically my ticket wasn’t worth the paper it was printed on."

Emma was told that someone had entered the stadium on the same ticket as her at around 4.10pm - she arrived an hour later at 5.15pm.

She said she was told that she could purchase another ticket, but Emma said she was "reluctant" to do so as she had already spent a significant amount of money and was not sure if she would be given a refund.

She said: "I listened to them from outside the venue instead. I was more annoyed about the fact that you are given a guarantee by these people, and it turned out to be rubbish."

Emma has been a fan of the Spice Girls since they broke into the music scene and was even given the nickname Baby Spice by her work colleagues.

She said: "They were the revolution of girl power back then, my work colleagues nicknamed me Baby Spice because of my name and the blonde hair.

"I spent many a night dancing to the Spice Girls and I never got to see them the first time around, so I was really looking forward to seeing them now.

"They sounded really good from outside the stadium.

"I wish I was in there so I could be a part of it and soak up that atmosphere Everyone walking in were happy and smiling and having fun. It looked like it was going to be good fun."

Emma's friends did not realise that she had not been allowed in and believed that she just struggled to find them inside the stadium.

She said: "They were upset, they just thought I couldn’t find them on the pitch and I just boogied along somewhere else, so when we met back up they were asking did I like it, what did I think and I was like 'I didn’t get in'.

"They were upset and upset for me, but on the bright side, they were freezing and like drowned rats and I was warm and dry.

"You have to make the best of it, I could have gotten angry and kicked off, but it wouldn’t have changed anything, so I just had my boogie outside the stadium with the security people."

Emma has since been refunded £61 and been given a voucher for £100 to spend on tickets from their site.

A StubHub spokesperson said: "We are a fan first marketplace connecting buyers and sellers of tickets to live events. In the rare event that a buyer is refused entry to the event, our FanProtect Guarantee kicks in.

"As a result, Emma received a full refund for her ticket and we continue to investigate why she was unable to access the event.”

How to protect yourself from ticket scams

A recent report from Action Fraud revealed that it had received 4,755 complaints of ticket fraud last year, costing victims more than £1.6 million.

With other research also showing that more than a quarter of millennial festival-goers have fallen victim to ticket scams, industry watchdogs are urging customers to do their due diligence when it comes to purchasing tickets to high-profile events.

As we enter the festival season in particular, do buyers have any legal recourse when it comes to purchasing counterfeit tickets?

What are the risks when buying tickets from resellers, and what is the best way to protect yourself from ticket scams?

Sarah Garner, solicitor at DAS Law, explains where the law stands on ticket scams, and how to make sure you don’t miss the shows…

Do I have any recourse if I bought a ticket from a tout or a reselling website and was refused entry to the event?

You can be refused entry to an event if you have purchased a ticket from a tout or reselling website if the ticket states ‘no resale’ or is a counterfeit ticket.  In these circumstances, you would be looking to argue a breach of contract against the seller to claim your costs back. 

I would recommend that you check the terms and conditions on your tickets or booking information provided for the event that you wanted to attend.  If it is a genuine ticket and the reason for refusing you entry is not within the stated terms and conditions, you can argue the venue or organisers have broken the contract by denying you entry and you can potentially pursue them for a refund.

Are ticket touts still allowed to operate in the UK?

The general resale of football tickets is illegal under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 unless the resale is authorised by the organiser of the match. However, the re-selling of live music tickets for profit is not against the law in the UK.

Professional touts have commonly used specialised software (known as ‘bots’) to automatically bulk buy tickets the instant they are made available to the general public. These are then listed and sold for profit on reselling websites.

The government has recently passed new legislation, in the form of the Digital Economy Act 2017, which bans touts from using ‘bots’ to buy tickets in bulk.  This new legislation has made it a criminal offence to use automated technology to purchase large amounts of tickets to then be sold on at inflated prices.

Am I better protected if I buy tickets from a ticket reselling websites compared to ticket touts?

The best protection will be offered by purchasing tickets from a reseller authorised by the event organiser.

How can I protect myself from ticket scams?

The best way to protect yourself from ticket scams is by contacting the event organiser in the first instance. They should either be able to supply tickets or direct you to authorised agencies, these are the official agents who have agreements with promoters or venues to sell tickets for events.  Official ticket sellers are usually listed on the event's official website.

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 stipulates that certain information should be provided where a person resells a ticket for a recreational, sporting or cultural event in the United Kingdom through a secondary ticketing facility.

When purchasing a ticket through a tout or reselling site you should ensure that you are made aware of the following pieces of information:

  • The face value of the ticket
  • Where the ticket is, such as a particular seat or standing area at the venue for the event and the information necessary to enable you to identify that seat or standing area
  • Information about any restriction(s) which limits use of the ticket to persons of a particular description

Purchasing tickets with a credit or debit card should be considered because if you experience difficulty with a ticket seller you may be able to get a refund through your credit or debit card provider via a chargeback scheme or Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.

What is my legal position in claiming a refund if the event is cancelled?

If the event you have booked is cancelled, rescheduled or has changed location, you are entitled to a refund of at least the face value of the ticket. If the face value has been reduced by the organiser, the refund will be for the discounted face value price paid.  If an event is rescheduled to another date, your ticket should be valid.

If you can't make the rescheduled date, then you're entitled to a full refund from the organiser. The ticket seller is responsible for giving you a refund for tickets to a cancelled event.