Ticket site shuts down, leaving U2, Justin Bieber and ACDC fans stranded

Thousands of fans have been devastated after gig tickets failed to arrive - leaving them hundreds of pounds out of pocket. Circle Tickets failed to deliver tickets to concerts by artists ranging from Paloma Faith to Justin Bieber. They wouldn't respond to emails or calls, and then they shut the website down without warning. Fans have turned to social media to express their fury, but they may have another option.

Many fans paid the company hundreds of pounds to secure tickets to see their idols. Thousands of them called and emailed as the date of their concert approached, but still no tickets arrived. Now the CircleTicket.com website has been closed down, and fans are furious.

Devastated
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Many have taken to social media to vent their anger. On the company Facebook page, one commented: "Appalled. Bought tickets for ACDC in Dublin for stepson's birthday... Not received and out of pocket by £400. Even when you think you are being careful it's still possible to be scammed. And a very disappointed teenager as well."

Another said: "You are an absolute disgrace. I ordered 7 tickets for Justin Bieber at the Fusion Festival for my daughter and her friends. This was instead of a holiday to incorporate the travel costs to get there. I am a single mum, who works two jobs and saved and saved for this. It now looks as though you have £700 of MY money and we have nothing but sadness!!!!"

Action Fraud told the Daily Mail it was looking into a number of complaints about the company. Barclaycard told the Daily Mirror that it had no connection to the company, which had been using the Barclaycard logo without permission. It confirmed that its legal and electronic crime team was investigating.

What can you do?

If you have been left stranded by Circle Tickets, there are a few things you can do. Under normal circumstances you would get in touch with the company and ask for a refund, but Circle Tickets is not responding to requests. Failing that, if your ticket seller is a member of a professional association, you can contact them. Unfortunately Circle Tickets isn't.

Your best solution is to seek a refund from your card provider. If you paid by credit card - and the tickets cost more than £100 in one transaction - you can claim the money back under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act - leaving your card provider to chase the ticket company.

If you paid by debit card, you have less protection, but you can ask your card provider to do a chargeback, where they claw payments back from the seller. Unfortunately, this doesn't always work.

Beyond that, fans are left with the option of going to the small claims court. However, you will need the address of the retailer, and you need to be sure that they have the funds to pay back to you. For Circle Ticket customers, this is far from certain.

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