International

SP Member of Parliament Jasper van Dijk is calling on everyone to report their experiences with expensive concert tickets to the complaints point ‘Kaart te Duur’ kaartteduur@sp.nl (‘Ticket too expensive’). It happens frequently that tickets for concerts are sold on via the internet at many times the original price. ‘At Adele’s concerts ten minutes after they started selling them, tickets were already to be had for €1000. Resale agents take huge advantage of the fact that fans are desperate to go a concert.’

Parliament’s main legislative chamber has recently signalled its support for a legislative proposal from Van Dijk aimed at restricting the resale of tickets. If the Senate also adopts the proposed law, which it will debate in February, purchasers will be able to demand a refund of any surcharge on the original ticket price which exceeds 20% of that price. ‘I’d like to hear from anyone who’s had to pay too much for a ticket,’ says Van Dijk. ‘I’ll collect the reports and present them to the Senate.’

The culprits are private individuals and companies who buy up tickets with the aim of selling them on for a much higher sum, added to which are often service charges for which the reasons are unclear. Van Dijk also wants to see measures taken against this practice. He is asking the government to ensure that ‘purchasers are told precisely what service charges they will have to pay.’ As he points out, ‘going to an event should be something to enjoy, so it’s rather unpleasant if you’re confronted with unjustifiable costs.’