Buying Tickets Online: Rights, Cancellations and Refunds

Originally written by Lucy Debenham, updated by the editorial team on 17th August 2026

Buying Tickets Online: What to Check Before You Pay

Buying tickets online can be a straightforward way to find good prices for concerts, sports events, theatre shows and travel. But ticket purchases come with their own set of considerations, and knowing your rights beforehand can save you trouble later.

Before committing to any purchase, take time to understand exactly what you are buying. Check the full cost, including any booking fees, handling charges or delivery costs that may be added at checkout. These extras can sometimes add a significant amount to the headline price.

It is worth buying from a UK based seller where possible. This means your statutory consumer rights under UK law will apply more straightforwardly. Be aware that a website ending in .co.uk or featuring UK in its name does not guarantee the company is actually based in the United Kingdom. If you are unsure, check the company's registered address in their terms and conditions or contact them directly to ask.

Stick to well known ticket sellers or official venue box offices when you can. If you are using a resale platform, check whether it belongs to a recognised trade body such as the Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR). Members agree to follow a code of practice that offers some additional protection.

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Your Consumer Rights When Buying Tickets Online

When you buy tickets online from a business, you are protected by the Consumer Rights Act 2015. This means the tickets must be as described, and the seller must have the right to sell them. If a seller advertises tickets they do not actually have, or the tickets turn out to be for different seats than stated, you may have grounds for a refund.

However, the usual 14 day cooling off period that applies to most online purchases does not apply to tickets for events with a specific date. This exemption exists under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 because event tickets are considered time sensitive. Once you have bought a ticket for a concert, match or theatre performance, you cannot cancel simply because you have changed your mind.

This exemption applies regardless of whether you have received the tickets yet. The moment you complete your purchase, you are generally committed.

Some sellers do offer their own returns or exchange policies as a goodwill gesture, so it is always worth checking the terms before buying. These policies vary widely between companies.

Your situation may be slightly different. ask a question below ↓ and our editorial team will reply with our advice.

Cancelled or Rescheduled Events

If an event is cancelled outright, you are entitled to a refund. The seller should contact you to explain how to claim this. In most cases, refunds cover the face value of the ticket, though you may not always get booking fees back depending on the seller's terms.

When an event is rescheduled rather than cancelled, the situation becomes less clear cut. Many organisers and ticket sellers will expect your original ticket to remain valid for the new date. If you cannot attend the rescheduled event, whether you can get a refund will depend on the seller's policy. Some will offer refunds, others will only offer credit or exchanges.

If the event is significantly changed in a way that affects what you originally paid for, such as a headline act being replaced, you may have a stronger case for requesting your money back. This will depend on the specific circumstances.

Keep records of your booking confirmation, any emails from the seller, and your payment details. These will be useful if you need to pursue a refund or make a complaint.

Making a Complaint and Getting Help

If something goes wrong with your ticket purchase, start by contacting the seller directly. Put your complaint in writing, whether by email or through their website, so you have a record. Explain what happened and what outcome you are looking for. Give the company a reasonable time to respond, usually around 14 days.

If the seller does not resolve your complaint satisfactorily and they are a member of STAR, you can escalate the matter through their independent complaints process.

For purchases made by credit card over £100, you may be able to claim under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. This makes the card provider jointly liable with the seller if something goes wrong. For smaller purchases or debit card payments, you could ask your bank about a chargeback, though this is not a legal right and success is not guaranteed.

Citizens Advice can provide guidance on your options if you are unsure how to proceed. Their website has detailed information on consumer rights and how to take complaints further. For the latest rules on consumer protection, you can also check GOV.UK.

If you believe a seller has acted fraudulently or you have been the victim of a ticket scam, report it to Action Fraud, the UK's national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime.

Taking a few minutes to check the seller and understand the terms before buying can help you avoid problems. And knowing where to turn if things do go wrong puts you in a better position to get the outcome you deserve.

The Next Step

Now that you have read through the advice above, you might want to put it into practice. Our Online Purchase Rights Checker lets you find out your rights when an online order goes wrong, from faulty goods to late or missing deliveries. Try it now →

24 questions

Ask Online Shopping Rights a Question

OnlineShoppingRights Editor 20/05/2026 at 9:19 am

@Burrito That sounds like a glitch on viagogo's end where the listing wasn't pulled after the first sale, so it kept reselling. You shouldn't be liable for their system error, so don't pay anything until you've got it in writing. Raise a formal complaint through their site, then if they ignore you, do a chargeback with your bank or card provider citing service not provided. Keep screenshots of everything, including the phone advice you were given.

Burrito 08/09/2023 at 3:18 pm

I purchased 2 tickets on viagogo. Put them for sale then few months later reduced the price. Shocked to discover that the same 2 tickets have been sold three times and I was advised to decline two sales and been told by phone consultant that I have to pay the difference of the rejected sales. How can one set of 2 tickets be sold duplicate times?
They are not responding to my query, help!!

Jordy 24/07/2023 at 9:00 pm

Purchased through viagogo 8 months later was told the tickets were never transferred an I'm unable to go.
I'm wondering where I can take this complaint to as viagogo do their best to avoid dealing with any complaints.
I have a recording of an employee lying about my tickets

Fraz 03/04/2023 at 11:09 pm

I ordered limp bizkit tickets last year in march for Brixton academy. It was delayed due to the singers health. Then eventually got a new date. Then it was moved to Wembley due to complications with original venue which is fine. Was contacted by ticket master saying original tickets still valid. Today I have been contacted by ticket master again saying my standing tickets have been cancelled and new tickets have been given to me for seating tickets. It's not what I have paid for. Standing tickets cost more then seating at every gig. I just want to know what my rights are so I can use this against them. I have contacted them and waiting a reply

Mingtor 31/05/2021 at 2:07 pm

Terrible! Dont shop with Viagogo,

Only after threatening with legal action / contacting a consumer watchdog 3 times have I even had confirmation that my refund is being processed. They have "cowboys" written all over them, hoping that the customer will just get so frustrated with the (lack of) service and write the money off. As my tickets were nearly £300 there was no chance of that happening!

Leo 18/05/2020 at 3:59 pm

I've been told that distance selling regulations don't apply to tickets (e.g. a 14 day cooling off period) on account of the possibility of the event being within 14 days of the tickets' arrival meaning you could just get your money back after the event etc, but I can't find any physical evidence of this apart fromwhat I was told. Does anybody know about how the cooling off period applies to tickets and could let me know where they found the info?

Milly 03/03/2020 at 10:54 pm

I purchased three tickets for the Franki Valli concert in Liverpool. I thought I was buying them from MS arena. Somehow I ended up purchasing them from Viagogo.I am shocked to find I have been charged £150 more .I have contacted then,asking for my money back but no joy.I was misled,but what can I do now?

Susan1154 15/08/2019 at 8:26 pm

Bought 3 tickets from festicket for Foo Fighters. One wa for my child,when printing them off I noticed that there was an age restriction on them and my kid was too young. I thought this was my fault and hadn’t noticed the age restrictions when I booked so I contacted them and asked for a name change on the ticket as it is the same as an adult ticket. They said they couldn’t do it as it was too late. I then found out later that day that they had changed the age restrictions and hadn’t informed me,I contacted them again and asked for a refund or name change but they won’t reply, does anyone know what my rights are?

DO NOT BUY TICKETS F 05/06/2019 at 9:03 am

On May 31, 2019 I looked for tickets for Guelaguetza in Oaxaca Mexico. I found VIAGOGO and was pressured by the site to buy, the cost started in US dollars and ended in Mexican Pesos. VIAGOGO tricked me to buy a ticket 9 times the face value one day before the actual release of the tickets (I learned later that actual release of tickets sale went off June 1) placing messages such as just 2% of the tickets available... I was a fool. Under my economical circumstances, I will have to continue to request for a refund, which I hope someone will help me.

Screwed by Ticketmas 02/12/2018 at 1:28 pm

I live IIB Ireland and I ordered two tickets from Ticketmaster UK for a concert in Liverpool. As they were a gift, I knew that box office collection was not an option so I ordered courier delivery. Ticketmaster have failed to deliver and say that box office collection or transfer to the card of the person going are my only options. That person doesn't have a card so I'm out of options. TM have shown me a clause deep in their terms of sale to say they reserve the right to do this. On this basis they refuse a refund. Do I have any rights to a refund?

Jan 27/09/2018 at 12:07 pm

I bought two tickets for a concert ( Van Morrison) at Wrest Park, Beds. They had to be seated as my husband is recovering from major surgery and is unable to stand for any length of time and must avoid being jostled. We paid for seated tickets but, on arrival, we were told that the seats were not available as the crowd had surged forward and had taken all the allocated seats. We asked if the security could help us gain our seats but they just shrugged their shoulders and pointed to the dense crowd surrounding the stage and seated area. Their response was " Sorry, nothing we can do".

I have complained to the ticket seller and the event organiser and so far have been offered the difference between seated and standing tickets. This is irrelevant as we were unable to stand! Also we have been offered VIP tickets for other concerts. Almost all are now finished and next year's offer is unpublished and so I cannot say if this is an offer I can accept. Now it has gone very quiet.

Any words of advice?

Unhappy 21/07/2018 at 11:10 am

I purchased 5 tickets on Viagogo to Barcelona v Sevilla match. The match was advertised as taking place in Barcelona. This has now been changed to a neutral venue, which does not suit us as we're on holiday in Barcelona. Viagogo are refusing to refund me, stating the tickets are valid for the new, as yet unannounced venue, or tjat I could resell them on their site.

Veryupset 24/05/2018 at 10:23 pm

Don't buy from Viagpgo! Tattoo park tickets which suddenly went up to £70 (almost triple the face value) on last click 'continue'. Complained but told can only resell for £85 - what's going on. Where is the consumer law to protect this unethical behaviour?!!

Renata 25/01/2018 at 10:13 am

I bought 2 tickets for a stand up comedy from City Heroes Media - the organisers of the event.
Event should have taken place on Ealing Broadway - as per information on the ticket and confirmation email, but after purchase they changed place - Stand up was performed in Balham, at different venue!
Nobody informed me about that change, when I called them to complain, they said that this information was announced on local radio, there was poster in the local shops and church...
And that they sent me an email explaining that event will take place on different location - never happened. I asked them to prove me by forwarding me email they sent - never happened!
What can I do to have my money back?? I arrived from quite far away (out of London) spent all together £100 for tickets and journey and it was utter disaster...

Scott 06/12/2017 at 8:00 pm

I brought 2 tickets to see Metallica at the O2. We were on level 4 which it turned out we were seating above the sound rig so all we could hear was booming and also they did not use any big screens so we could not even see them. I complained on the night to staff and was told there is nothing they can do so I complained to the Axis tickets who said they are only selling on behalf of Live nations who I contacted and asked for a refund due to unreasonable skill or care. They said that no one else has complained about the sound and the band didn't want to use big screens so I'm not entitled to a refund. I have been trying get them to give me details of somebody to escalate my complaint but they are now not responding to my emails. I don't know what else to do now.

OnlineShoppingRights Editor 27/11/2017 at 12:49 pm

No, unfortunately there is no cooling off period for events/travel tickets etc. It doesn't look as though Amazon offers a buy back facility, so your only option would be to give them to a friend/family member as a gift or see if they are prepared to give you something in return for them.

pip 24/11/2017 at 9:28 am

I purchased 2 tickets via Amazon for a comedy show. Really pleased with myself, I told my partner, who was so happy until I mentioned the date. He had bought me tickets for a Xmas present for the same night. Immediately I contacted Amazon, finding online that they had another date available, same block, same cost but after spending 30 mins on the phone, they tell me they can't change them. Within 10 minutes I had contacted them and there's nothing they can do. Surely there must be a cooling off period!!!!

LK 22/10/2017 at 7:18 pm

I sadly went to purchase tickets from viagogo. I selected the section I wanted and was immediately facing a countdown timer and tickets were being sold by the second. I selected 4 at £50each. I proceeded to put in my name, pressed continue, my address and email, pressed continue and then it wanted my bank details which did not display any final costs. I did so and pressed CONTINUE. I was then shown the cost and thought that’s a lot more than I wanted to pay £90 each. But sadly I then noticed there was an order number and the sale was complete. I contacted viagogo but they’re impossible to contact and I get the same email each time. I used my credit card who have done a chargeback and section 75 but have had no success. I’m trying to fight it as I don’t have much proof, with key areas of the law. Any help would be gratefully received.

OnlineShoppingRights Editor 09/10/2017 at 3:36 pm

They've offered you a refund, so there isn't a great deal you can do except to try and obtain some addtional compensation. We can't really give any more specific legal advice, you might want to try a solicitor to see if this is a realistic option.

Murdy 09/10/2017 at 9:33 am

I bought 2 tickets to a stand up comedian show on the first day they were released and got the floor seats I wanted. It was a gift for my brothers birthday.
Four months later the ticket agency messaged me to say they had a “Technical Diffculty” and had to change my seat. However the seats now being offered are nowhere near the same quality near the back and up the stairs. They have offered a refund but it’s just ruined the whole process and to buy the same tickets on a resell site I would have to pay 5 times the price for each ticket.
Where do I stand.
Thanks in Advance
Ian

elinei 05/04/2016 at 1:36 pm

Hello. I booked tickets to Cuba from TravelUp agents. Next day after my purchase I saw news that Zika virus has been reported in Cuba and as I am having fertility treatments virus is a big threat to me so I decided to cancel my tickets. The agents refuse to refund my money. Their terms and conditions say that if I book individual components from them they will make a booking as an agent for the relevant suppliers own terms and conditions. the supplier is AirCanada and their policy allows free cancellation within 24 hours. What shall I do about it? thanks

OnlineShoppingRights Editor 21/11/2014 at 10:17 am

@frankie. The cooling off period does not apply to tickets for events/attractions etc. When booking tickets you should always check the location of the ticket pick up point or whether the voucher is valid in lieu of the ticket etc. 1.5km is walkable, if the distance had been several miles it could have been considered unreasonable. The queue statement would have been made by the company to warn you of potential queue times, sometimes it can be several hours. Consider yourself lucky that you only waited 15 minutes :-)

Frankie 19/11/2014 at 10:31 am

I purchased 2 tickets to the Louvre plus booking fee with 365 tickets. I printed the voucher and when in Paris realised the office address to collect the tickets was 3 kms from my hotel and 1.5 kms from the Louvre. I had assumed the ticket office would be at the Louvre. I cancelled the tickets within 7 days of purchase and 1 day before the ticket date. But 365 offer no refund saying the address is on the website. It is on the website but not obvious that the office is nowhere near the Louvre itself and therefore misleading. It was also misleading to state that queues could be up to 4 hours when we got in within 15 minutes. Do I have any right to a refund? Thanks Francesca

issie 22/09/2014 at 9:19 am

We are absolutely disgusted by the fact that no refunds have been made for the Alt Fest 2014. We had three days concert booked as well as a snooze box booked and it is quite a big amount of money!!!!!!
Nothing has been refunded yet. I am thinking about entering into a legal procedure.

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