Ticketmaster has royally screwed up — again.
Many royal fans have been left disappointed after being told they won tickets to the coronation concert, only to find out all the tickets were gone.
Fans had to apply to attend the concert by entering a ballot, with the assumption that tickets would be distributed to those who were “successful” in the ballot.
There were three rounds of ballots, and many received an email for the third round congratulating them on winning tickets — just to discover that there were none available.
Customers were told they had until April 27 to claim their tickets, but even when they tried to get tickets before time ran out, there was nothing available.
Many people took to Twitter to share their frustration with Ticketmaster.
“Click here by the 26th April at 12:00 otherwise your tickets will be reallocated! I clicked the link in less than 30 mins for it to say sold out? If I had been chosen & had to claim before tomorrow how can they be sold out,” one person wrote.
“I’m another one to add to this list. I’ve tried for a hour in case the system was down. I had the email to say I had been successful for the disabled ticket ballot. I was so excited,” a sad fan tweeted.
“I had the email saying I had two tickets and two days to claim them. Minutes later – ‘sold out’ despite T&Cs saying only successful applicants would be emailed and there would NOT be a first come first served system,” someone shared.
“I’ve spent nearly £500 [$620.17 USD] on trains and hotel on ‘Winning’ tickets in the ballot, only to find I never actually won anything. As this was so last minute, I’m struggling to claim a refund!” another said.
“Ticketmaster – words fail me, as did your badly worded congratulations email. I will never buy from you again,” another said.
Some even pointed out how misleading the congratulatory email was.
“The wording from ticketmaster was fraudulent and misleading – saying we had been successful when we had not,” one person wrote.
“It wasn’t meant to be first come first served !! People will have booked trains hotels etc assuming they have their tickets and 48hours to claim AS PER EMAIL,” someone said.
“received email stating I was successful in the ballot for the Coronation Concert however when link clicked: Tickets are currently unavailable from Ticketmaster. We’re unable to find tickets right now, please try again later. What’s happening ticketmaster?” another tweeted.
A Ticketmaster spokesperson shared their side of the story with the BBC, saying, “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.”
King Charles’ coronation will take place May 6. The coronation concert will be at Windsor Castle the following day. Katy Perry and Lionel Richie are set to perform.