Be Careful When Buying Basketball Tournament Tickets

DEM Blogger

March 18, 2019

University of Kentucky Basketball Wildcat fans are ready to follow the team along the road to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Championship game…and Better Business Bureau^® serving Central & Eastern Kentucky is reminding fans to beware of questionable sources for tickets.

“Good seats at the various venues will be in demand,” said Heather Clary, BBB Director of Communications. “Many fans may choose to buy on secondary buy/sell exchanges, or from individuals on social media and other sites. BBB urges fans to do a bit of research before buying tickets to follow your team.”

The University of Kentucky receives a limited amount of tickets for postseason play, according to the UK Athletics Ticket Office website. They advise fans that tickets can be purchased from NCAA’s Ticket Exchange, the official secondary marketplace for tournament tickets.

If you are looking to buy tickets to follow the Wildcats or other teams, BBB and the National Association of Ticket Brokers (a National BBB Partner) offer this advice:

• Purchase from the venue whenever possible. Many official ticket sales agents now offer secondary sales options, as well.
• Check out the seller/broker. Look them up on BBB.org  to learn what other customers have experienced. Check to see if they are a member of the National Association of Ticket Brokers. NATB members offer a 200% purchase guarantee on tickets. Look up the seller on VerifiedTicketSource.com to confirm you are buying from an NATB-mehttps://www.bbb.org/mber resale company.
• Buy online only from vendors you know and trust. Look for the lock symbol in the web address to indicate a secure purchasing system. Don’t click through from emails or online ads; a common ticket scam trick is to create a web address that is similar to a well-known company.
• Know the refund policy.You should only purchase tickets from a ticket reseller that provides clear details about the terms of the transaction. Sellers should disclose to the purchaser, prior to purchase, the location of the seats represented by the tickets, either orally or by reference to a seating chart; and, if the tickets are not available for immediate access to the purchaser, disclose when the tickets will ship or be available for pick up.
• Use payment methods that come with protection. Always use a credit card so you have some recourse if the tickets are not as promised. Debit cards, wire transfer or cash transactions are NOT advised; if the tickets are fraudulent, you won’t be able to get your money back.
• Be wary of advertisements.When you search the web for online tickets, advertisements for cheap tickets will often appear. Use good judgment; some of these ads may be ticket scams, especially if the prices are low.
• If you’re unsure, verify your tickets. Pay a visit to the arena where the event will be held. Present your ticket to “Will Call” (customer service) and they can verify if your ticket is legitimate and show you how to tell if a ticket is fake.

More information: www.bbb.org/tickets

 Consumers may report scams to BBB Scam Tracker at www.bbb.org/scamtracker.

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Contact the Better Business Bureau serving Central & Eastern Kentucky to check out companies, charities, or to report problems and scams by calling the Lexington office at (859) 259-1008 or toll-free 1-800-866-6668. Services are also available by logging on to www.bbb.org/lexington.

Source: Better Business Bureau serving Central & Eastern Kentucky