Ticketmaster sparks fury over King’s Coronation Concert ticket ballot email with users claiming breach of T&C

Ticketmaster is facing backlash on social media after people who entered the Coronation Concert ballot received a “misleading” email from the company claiming they had won tickets to the special event. Users have taken to Twitter claiming that the ticket vendor has breached its own terms and conditions.

In the email titled “The Coronation Concert - Congratulations”, Ticketmaster writes: “Congratulations, you have been successful in the ballot for a pair of standing tickets to The Coronation Concert, At Windsor Castle on Sunday 7 May 2023.”

Coronation hopefuls had their heart rates raised as they pictured themselves in the crowd on the big day. But their joy soon turned to anger, as they were told no more tickets were available when trying to claim theirs.

Ticketmaster tweeted soon after: “Tickets for the supplementary first-come, first-serve round of The Coronation Concert ballot have now sold out. Enjoy it in your own way next month, whether it’s in Windsor or at home with friends!”, which led to even more confusion.

One who received the email, Martin Paul-Stone, said on Twitter: “Erm @TicketmasterUK it clearly says in your ‘congratulatory’ email for the #coronationconcert tickets that we have until Thursday midday to claim before they are reallocated so how can they have ‘sold out’?”

In the email, Ticketmaster states that winners have until noon on Thursday April 27 to claim their tickets, after which they will be re-allocated. One recipient wrote: “I’m totally confused. We get an email saying that we have until 27th to claim our balloted tickets but they’ve already gone? Like the thousands of other people who won the ballot only to not get tickets.“

Another said: “Bit poor this. Terms of the original ballot state won’t be first come first served.  Email states you have until noon on 27th to claim your tickets but there are no tickets left.  So there was never any chance of being able to have until noon on 27th”

User Lucy Essex wrote on Twitter: “According to the terms and conditions as per the ballot application process and BBC website it does state this would NOT be first come first served. You have breached your own terms and conditions. You owe a massive explanation as to why we have received emails to state we have won to be met with this absolute shambles.”

While the email does say that tickets in this supplementary round are “being offered to a randomly selected group of ballot winners on a first come first served basis”, it also claims that recipients have until Thursday to claim their tickets, with the terms & conditions reading “tickets were not allocated on a first-come first-served basis, so there was as much chance of being selected if an application was made on the 10th February 2023 as on the 28th February 2023”, and “if you have been successful in the ballot, you will be notified by late April, when more event information will be sent directly to you.”

A spokesperson for Ticketmaster said: “Final standing tickets for the Coronation Concert were released today (April 25) on a first-come, first-served basis and, unsurprisingly, went very fast.”

They added: “Everyone who was successful in the two main ballot rounds for the Coronation Concert was offered a guaranteed pair of tickets, provided they claimed them within three weeks. Today, any unclaimed tickets were released on a first-come, first-served basis to those who had previously applied to the ballot (and were unsuccessful). These inevitably went very quickly.”