A Birmingham man with a warning when it comes to online ticket purchases for entertainment events. Todd Wheeles claims he was scammed out of money for Saturday’s showing of “Hamilton” at the BJCC.Todd Wheeles said he and his family and friends spent more than $2,000 on tickets. He’s an attorney and said this shows that anyone can be scammed. He’s used third party retailers before, but he said he wants to make sure others aren’t taken advantage of.“This morning, I got a call from an 844 number, and they said that I didn’t have tickets,” Wheeles said.Todd Wheeles purchased tickets for Saturday’s production of the Broadway smash “Hamilton” at the BJCC back in November. He said he used a link from what he thought was credible to score one of the hottest tickets in town.“I tried to do that because you worry about the secondary market,” Wheeles said. “I tried to buy the tickets in the primary market from the people that were selling them.”After buying tickets, he said he got a confirmation email telling him the seller would make his tickets available at least a day before the curtain rose on Saturday. $2,000 spent on six tickets only to be left with nothing. “I requested an email,” Wheeles said. “‘Hey guys, send me an email explaining what happened,’ and I haven’t gotten that yet. I don’t expect to get it.”Wheeles said the company who called to tell him he didn’t have tickets is not the same company he purchased the tickets from. He said he also reached out to employees at the BJCC several times Friday and was told there wasn’t anything they could do because the tickets weren’t purchased through their ticket provider. In a statement to WVTM 13, Executive Director and CEO of the BJCC, Tad Schneider said in part.“Please be aware these third-party companies are unofficial ticket resellers that have no affiliation or business relationship with the BJCC or the promoters of shows and events at the BJCC … We are sad when even one individual has such a disappointing experience.”Wheeles is he’s a live entertainment fanatic, but he said he’s never been scammed out of his money.“I’ll go to sporting events all over America,” Wheeles said. “I do go to a lot of NFL games and stuff. I bought tickets from Vivid Seats and Ticketmaster probably two dozen times over the last 10 years.”He hopes telling his story will keep other people from getting scammed.“I represent people who get hurt and done wrong,” Wheeles said. “When I see something like this, a lot of times it just takes one person to get some momentum going. Other people probably had the same thing happen to them. If this is a pattern in practice in this industry, something needs to be done about it.”Wheeles said he doesn’t plan to buy new tickets for Saturday night’s show. He was told he should get a refund for the tickets he bought in three or four days. The BJCC staff suggests buying tickets for any event at the BJCC to purchase tickets through their official retailer Ticketmaster.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. —
A Birmingham man with a warning when it comes to online ticket purchases for entertainment events. Todd Wheeles claims he was scammed out of money for Saturday’s showing of “Hamilton” at the BJCC.
Todd Wheeles said he and his family and friends spent more than $2,000 on tickets. He’s an attorney and said this shows that anyone can be scammed. He’s used third party retailers before, but he said he wants to make sure others aren’t taken advantage of.
“This morning, I got a call from an 844 number, and they said that I didn’t have tickets,” Wheeles said.
Todd Wheeles purchased tickets for Saturday’s production of the Broadway smash “Hamilton” at the BJCC back in November. He said he used a link from what he thought was credible to score one of the hottest tickets in town.
“I tried to do that because you worry about the secondary market,” Wheeles said. “I tried to buy the tickets in the primary market from the people that were selling them.”
After buying tickets, he said he got a confirmation email telling him the seller would make his tickets available at least a day before the curtain rose on Saturday. $2,000 spent on six tickets only to be left with nothing.
“I requested an email,” Wheeles said. “‘Hey guys, send me an email explaining what happened,’ and I haven’t gotten that yet. I don’t expect to get it.”
Wheeles said the company who called to tell him he didn’t have tickets is not the same company he purchased the tickets from. He said he also reached out to employees at the BJCC several times Friday and was told there wasn’t anything they could do because the tickets weren’t purchased through their ticket provider.
In a statement to WVTM 13, Executive Director and CEO of the BJCC, Tad Schneider said in part.
“Please be aware these third-party companies are unofficial ticket resellers that have no affiliation or business relationship with the BJCC or the promoters of shows and events at the BJCC … We are sad when even one individual has such a disappointing experience.”
Wheeles is he’s a live entertainment fanatic, but he said he’s never been scammed out of his money.
“I’ll go to sporting events all over America,” Wheeles said. “I do go to a lot of NFL games and stuff. I bought tickets from Vivid Seats and Ticketmaster probably two dozen times over the last 10 years.”
He hopes telling his story will keep other people from getting scammed.
“I represent people who get hurt and done wrong,” Wheeles said. “When I see something like this, a lot of times it just takes one person to get some momentum going. Other people probably had the same thing happen to them. If this is a pattern in practice in this industry, something needs to be done about it.”
Wheeles said he doesn’t plan to buy new tickets for Saturday night’s show. He was told he should get a refund for the tickets he bought in three or four days. The BJCC staff suggests buying tickets for any event at the BJCC to purchase tickets through their official retailer Ticketmaster.
