I booked to see Take That at the new Co-op Live venue in Manchester.
The concert has been moved to the AO Arena in Manchester, but the new seats I have been allocated are 53 rows behind my original tickets. What are my rights?
LM, Derby.
Dean Dunham responds: This is a common complaint among those who have chosen to transfer their tickets to the alternative venue following the delayed opening of the Co-op Live stadium.
First of all, it is understandable that the organizers have had problems issuing identical tickets, since the AO Arena is not comparable to Co-op Live because the seating configuration and size of the venue are completely different.
Back row: A reader is unhappy with their seats after the Take That concert at the Co-op live in Manchester was moved to the AO Arena.
However, this does not diminish your rights as a consumer.
Your obvious right is to demand a full refund before the concert. Some readers have asked if they can do this after initially choosing replacement tickets instead of a refund. The answer is yes.
The Consumer Rights Act says that consumers must obtain goods or services as described.
And, if the merchant (here the venue or ticket seller) must give you a replacement (here replacing Co-op Live tickets with AO Arena tickets), the replacement must be like-for-like.
This means that your seats must be exactly the same, comparable or better; Anything less entitles you to a remedy.
If you already attended the concert you cannot demand a full refund, but you still have rights.
Article 24 of the Consumer Rights Act gives consumers the right to a “price reduction” (basically a partial refund) in situations where the goods or services received do not conform to the contract and are worth less than the consumer paid.
This is the situation here, as the seats 53 rows back will be worth less than the original ones.
If you haven’t been to the concert yet and still want to go, you can tell the ticket seller that you’ll keep the tickets if they give you some money back to reflect the fact that they are inferior to the originals.
They may say no and only offer a cancellation and full refund. If so, you could say that you are entitled to a price reduction, since under the Consumer Rights Act they had the right to invoke a remedy and they exhausted it when they gave you the replacement notes, which means that you now have the right to demand a price reduction. reduced price.
I cannot return damaged shoes
I bought two pairs of trainers online for £104.99 with my credit card.
I have tried to return a pair (costing £42) because they are damaged, but the seller won’t help me. Can I claim on my credit card?
GG, Cambridge.
Dean Dunham responds: When you buy goods with a credit card, you may be eligible for protection under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. For Section 75 to apply, you must have paid the merchant “directly” – the money must have been sent directly from your credit card. into the merchant’s bank account.
So if you pay via PayPal you are not covered as the money is transferred to PayPal and then to the merchant. However, PayPal has its own resolution scheme.
The second requirement is that the cost of the goods must be between £100 and £30,000.
Please note that I said the cost of the goods, not the amount paid on the card. Because, as long as the cost of the goods is between the amounts above, you are covered, regardless of how much was paid on your card.
Therefore, if the goods cost £200 and you paid £20 with your credit card and the rest in cash, Section 75 will apply. If your claim is successful, your credit card provider will refund the full amount. £200.
Applying Section 75 to your circumstances is not good news as it makes clear that the “individual” item claimed (£42 trainers here) must have cost between £100 and £30,000.
However, the good news is that if you made the purchase within the last 120 days, you can file a “chargeback” claim with your credit card provider. Here there is no requirement that the goods cost a certain amount.
Chargeback allows you to ask your card provider to withdraw funds deposited from the recipient’s bank account and return them to yours if the goods are damaged. The recipient can dispute a chargeback if he can prove that a claim is invalid.
- Write to Dean Dunham, Money Mail, Scottish Daily Mail, 20 Waterloo Street, Glasgow G2 6DB or email d.dunham@dailymail.co.uk. The Daily Mail cannot accept any legal responsibility for the responses given.
