China News Network, August 8 (Zhongxin Financial Reporter Xie Yiguan) On the 2nd, the China Consumer Association released an analysis of the complaints accepted by the National Consumer Association in the first half of 2, which mentioned that it is difficult to refund tickets as a common problem in the performance ticketing industry, and consumers also encounter "pillar tickets", "wall root tickets" and suspected "bounced tickets" when purchasing performance tickets online.
According to the China Consumer Association, complaints in the online shopping performance ticketing industry mainly have the following problems:
First, it is difficult to refund tickets to become a common problem in the industry. The platform rejects consumers' refund requests on the grounds that concert tickets are scarce and timely.
Second, consumers purchased performance tickets online and encountered "blind selection" of seats, and some performance venues did not support consumers to choose seats when purchasing tickets, and only learned that they had purchased "pillar tickets" and "wall root tickets" with blind spots in the field of vision, and the whole concert was "only heard and no one was seen".
Third, the problem of suspected "skipping tickets" on online performance ticket sales platforms is frequent, and many consumers have reported that the performance time of the purchase of concert tickets does not match the date selected at the time of purchase.
For example, in May 2023, a number of consumers reported that the view of a celebrity concert was obstructed, which led to concentrated complaints.
For example, Ms. Zhang paid 1299 yuan on a platform to buy a concert ticket located in the stands on the second floor. Since there was no relevant seat map when purchasing the tickets, Ms. Zhang arrived at the concert site and found that a column was blocking her vision, resulting in the inability to watch the performance normally. She submitted a refund request to the platform, and the platform said that the refund was handled by the organizer; The organizer said that the stage had not yet been set up during the ticket sales stage, and did not know that there would be four pillars on the stage, and after discovering the problems at the performance site, most of the audience members who were blocked had changed seats or refunded them, but some of them could not be dealt with in time.
The China Consumer Association believes that the prosperity of the offline performing arts economy can not only meet the growing cultural consumption needs of the people, but also drive the development of surrounding business districts and become a new engine for consumption growth. Relevant performance ticketing platforms and organizers should think about how to better protect consumers' rights and interests and improve consumer experience from the perspective of promoting the release of consumption potential.
"For example, when formulating terms of service, learn from the mature practices of aviation, railway and other service industries, formulate tiered refund and change rules, implement tiered rates according to different refund and change times, reasonably formulate refund and exchange rules based on the principle of fairness and announce them to consumers, to ensure that consumers are fully informed and actively confirmed before purchasing tickets."
In the view of the China Consumer Association, if "non-refundable, non-exchangeable" tickets are launched, refundable tickets should be introduced at the same time, and reasonable prices should be set for consumers to choose independently and trade fairly. It is recommended that relevant competent departments strengthen the supervision of the performance ticketing market, explore the establishment of a unified national performance ticketing supervision service platform, monitor the source and flow of performance tickets in real time, promote openness and transparency in performance ticketing transactions, safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, and promote the healthy development of the industry. (End)