Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift and Fleetwood Mac fans left out of pocket by ticket agency

 

Little Lies: Circle Tickets offered tickets to gigs they never sent out

Fans of stars including Taylor Swift, Fleetwood Mac and Ed Sheeran have been left hundreds of pounds out of pocket after an online ticket agency shut up shop.

Thousands of concert-goers have been robbed of their chance to see their idols after forking out for tickets which failed to turn up.

Fraud investigators have received hundreds of complaints about the agency, Circle Tickets, which appears to have stopped trading.

Angry customers yesterday voiced their frustration on social media after failing to get their tickets.

One fumed: “We ordered tickets for Paloma Faith at Hampton Court Palace a couple of months ago - and our tickets have not arrived.

“I have sent Circle Tickets numerous emails and received no response. I have tried phoning them many times and just end up on hold. I paid with credit card so I have just initiated a dispute, so hopefully I’ll get my money back.”

I Knew You Were Trouble: Circle Tickets were charging over £100 to see Taylor Swift

Circle Tickets advertised tickets for Taylor Swift’s current British tour at more than £100. Yesterday the CircleTicket.com website itself disappeared.

When the company’s advertised phone number is called it goes to hold then a message tells the caller the voicemail is full.

Alisha also tried emailing, but had no response. “I’ve luckily been able to find legitimate tickets elsewhere,” she said.

In an online message to the firm, Taylor Swift fan Jane Rigby stormed: “I would like to meet you one day with my 12-year-old daughter and then you could maybe explain why you think it is okay to have robbed her of her first concert experience.”

Jane says she had paid £229 for Taylor Swift concert tickets at London’s Hyde Park next Saturday. She then bought return Virgin Rail tickets from Manchester to London for £125 and hotel accommodation costing £276.

She added: “You are a disgrace and I have reported you to the fraud team at my bank and other necessary agencies. I am an ordinary hard-working mum and don’t have money to give away, this treat was instead if a summer holiday, now we get neither. Shame on you.”

Action Fraud, the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cyber crime, said it was looking into a number of complaints about Circle Tickets.

 

Runaway: Circle Tickets shut up shop and are being investigated by Action Fraud

Last night a spokesman for Clyde Offices said they made the decision to withdraw their services last week.

He added: “This was a registered address for Circle Tickets but not any more. We have strict terms and conditions and can terminate the contract if we are suspicious.”

Barclaycard has launched its own investigation after the Circle Tickets website used its logo without permission.

A Barclaycard spokesman said: “Barclaycard has no affiliation with Circle Tickets and they have been using our logo without our permission.

“Both our legal and electronic crimes teams have been investigating Circle Tickets and the website is no longer in operation.

“We will be escalating this matter to the relevant law enforcement agencies.”

Robin Bowman of consumer action site A Spokesman Said said: “These situations pop up with depressing regularity online but you rarely hear of anything being done by the authorities to protect the public.

“We recommend that people only buy tickets from authorised outlets and always do a quick search online to see if other customers have had problems.”

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