Royals fans who tried to secure tickets for King Charles‘ coronation concert have been left devastated over a ticketing mix-up which left them without tickets.
Fans were left confused after being told they had a chance to claim tickets after being picked in the ballot – only to find them all sold out almost immediately. Ticketmaster sent out an email to the hopeful concertgoers which said they had been successful in a ballot but they needed to “act quickly”. However, many fans failed to get tickets, despite the email stating they had two days to act.
Royal fans left ‘devastated’ by losing out on coronation concert tickets
The email from Ticketmaster read: “Congratulations. Tickets in this supplementary round are being offered to a randomly selected group of ballot winners on a first-come, first-served basis. So, you will need to act quickly in claiming your tickets.” It included a link headlined in bold capitals which read: “HOW TO CLAIM YOUR TICKETS NOW.”
The email also stated: “You will have until 12:00 on 27th April to claim your tickets. If you do not claim your tickets by this date then they will be re-allocated.”
While fans were initially told in the email that they had two days to get tickets, the tickets were handed out on a “first come, first served” basis. And this left many fans confused. Not only that, but when originally applying for the ballot, royal fans were told tickets wouldn’t be handed out on a first-come, first-served basis. So what happened?!
One disappointed fan, Aaron Gill, told The Sun that he booked a hotel for £400 moments after getting the email. He said: “It clearly states you have two days. My first thought was I need to sort out accommodation. I rang my girlfriend and she was really excited.” Aaron received an email 10 minutes later that said all tickets were gone.
I had an email saying I was successful, and I had 48 hours to claim my tickets. An hour later they were all gone.
He said when details about the tickets were first released, it said tickets would be allocated “based on the geographical spread of the UK population and not on a first-come, first-served basis”.
‘Very annoyed!’
Hotel manager James Pembridge excitedly rang his mum to tell her they were going. But 10 minutes later, he had to apologise when he failed to get tickets. He added: “She was gutted. It feels like I’ve let her down.”
Posting on Twitter, another said: “I don’t think @TicketmasterCS understand the concept of a ballot…… I had an email saying I was successful, and I had 48 hours to claim my tickets…… An hour later they were all gone.” “Very annoyed!” another added.
Another asked: “How do I access my coronation concert tickets, the link doesn’t seem to be working in the email you sent me, it says no tickets are available and yet told me I have won tickets in the ballot?”
Ticketmaster’s response
Ticketmaster explained what had happened as it responded in a statement to disappointed fans: “Everyone who was successful in the two main ballot rounds was offered a pair of tickets, provided that they claimed them within three weeks. Today, any unclaimed tickets were released on a first-come, first-served basis. These inevitably went very quickly.”
The coronation concert will be headlined by British favourites Take That and superstars Lionel Richie and Katy Perry. Andrea Bocelli, Sir Bryn Terfel, Freya Ridings and Alexis Ffrench are also set to perform. The Coronation Concert takes place on the grounds of Windsor Castle on Sunday, May 7.
The concert will be watched by 20,000 in-person fans, and you can watch it at home on BBC One as well as listen on BBC Radio 2.
Read more: Prince Harry must face ‘awkward’ family reunion ‘head on’ at coronation
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