Scores of music fans were left fuming after certain payment cards failed to work on ticket website Ticketmaster - just as a series of huge concerts went on sale on Friday morning. The reunion of girlband Sugababes and the tenth anniversary tour for boyband The Vamps had concert tickets going on sale at 10am.
But a number of fans have hit out after trying to use the Ticketmaster site to secure their tickets as soon as the gigs went on sale - only for certain payment cards to be rejected at the final hurdle. Ticketmaster acknowledged there was an issue just before 11am.
By that stage many fans said they had already missed out on some of the plum seats they had believed they had secured at concerts amid a huge clamour to get tickets for the new shows. Ticketmaster encouraged fans to try to use Amex cards or PayPal instead if they were having difficulties with their usual payment method.
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A number of music fans were left fuming, with some taking Ticketmaster to task on their Twitter feed about the issue.
Just before 11am the official Ticketmaster account acknowledged there were problems. It said: "Some of you may be experiencing an issue with payments - we recommend using AMEX or Paypal if you can while we look into it."
Adam Williams said in reply to Ticketmaster's message: "This is a joke! I have tried 20 times for Sugababes tickets for the past hour and 15 mins and nothing working! Missed out on 20 different seats!" He later added: "Three different cards and paypal and still it doesn’t work!"
Chris Smith said: "Just wasted over an hour trying to buy tickets online. Now I discover that there’s a problem with the site. Why isn’t this statement on the website? I don’t use Amex or PayPal!!"
Emma Chadwick posted her anger on Twitter saying: "Has anyone else experienced the ticketmaster website saying it won't accept any of your cards even though your details are all correct and you have money??? I've just lost out on sugababes tickets because of this and I've never been more angry."
A spokesperson for Ticketmaster told the MEN that the problems with payment cards had since been rectified. They said: "Any payment issues were resolved earlier today."
Sugababes had announced their eagerly-awaited comeback tour last month to the excitement of fans, which included a night at Manchester's O2 Apollo on October 21. The tour marks the first time since 2003 that the original three members of the band, Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhan Donaghy, have toured for 20 years and follows a hit performance at Glastonbury.
The band will play Bristol, Southend, Norwich, Nottingham, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, London, Liverpool, Brighton, Bournemouth, Southampton, Cardiff, Birmingham, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow in a 17-venue tour.
Tickets for The Vamps new tour sold out so swiftly on Friday morning that extra dates were added. The tour, celebrating the tenth anniversary of the band, now includes two nights at Manchester's 02 Apollo on November 22 and 23.
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