dh061074
22-04-2006, 08:31 AM
After being a season ticket holder at west ham for 8 years, i had to give it up this year as i was buying a house and moving away from the area. So when we got to the semi final, getting a ticket was near on impossible, until a so called west ham 'fan' contacted me on a west ham forum. Below is an account of the last few days, its a bit of a read but i think its worth it and those that have a strong disliking for touts im sure will appreciate:
'nidge' is the name of our group and is an abbreviate of the town of Stevenage FYI
__________________________________________________ ____________
On tuesday a West Ham 'fan' offered me tickets for our semi final for double face value over on WestHamOnline the other day. On wednesday night I arranged to meet him and do the deal.
Over the course of the day I found out that this 'fan' had also said the same thing to at least 2 other people, about having the tickets, and them being the 1st to contact him blah blah blah. So naturally my suspicions are aroused.
Anyway, I contact him and he assures me he's straight up with me and they are mine for double face. Meet in pub car park at 7pm, job done.
The time comes and we're there waiting, this 'fan' turns up in a 6 month old BMW X5, not bad for someone who apparently so skint he cant afford to go to the match, hence needing to make money off his own fans.
He hands me the tickets and I hand him a sealed envelope with the money. He tells me they're good seats and he's sitting nearby. Well thats strange considering that you told me you had to sell for over the odds as you were too skint to go!!!
So we say our goodbyes, matey strolls back off to his X5 and I wheelspin outta the carpark and back onto the A1 so quick Schumacher would have been proud of the start I made.
2 minutes later and my mobile is going mental, its the tout.
He's opened the envelope and realised that there is only enough money in there to cover the face value of the tickets
Since then i have had numerous messages and texts from him giving it the big 'un about how the tickets will be cancelled and i wont be able to enter the ground, he's rung the club and told them that tickets have been stolen and he's geting duplicates sent out. This is total bollocks as I already had confirmation from west ham that they dont re-issue on lost or stolen tickets.
Today silence was broken when we set up a moody yahoo account and made contact with the tout trying to buy more tickets, below is the series of emails from today. Needless to say, billy big bollocks wasnt giving it quite so large by lunchtime today!
Tout:
You asked for tickets?
How did you get my mobile?
Who are you?
Nidge:
Have you got any spares, and how much?
I need to get sorted soon
Tout:
Who did you get my details from?
Nidge:
from a football forum, recieved a PM saying to ring/text this
number
I have an hour to book my train down to vill park and wont do it
unless
Tout:
Give me a call and we can discuss Mr Kitcher.
Nidge lad then rings tout, and then puts the phone down halfway through.
Nidge:
Sorry mate, need to top up my card.
What's the score..?
Tout:
I dont think i have any tickets to be honest. Only sell at face
value if i have them - would be really interested to know who gave you my mobile
number as i gave some tickets to someone the other day who drive off without
paying the full amount!!!!
Give me a call if you can.
Nidge:
Inetersting. I have a couple of witnesses suggesting you were trying
to tout tickts above face value AND that they paid what the tickets were worth.
We are still investigating and will get back to you as soon as
possible.
Tout:
Investigating what?
Tout:
So basically you tried to see if i was a ticket tout, which Im not.
A guy bought some tickets off me and only paid me £100 for two tickets
that
were worth £110 - i have tried calling him to get me the tenner he owes
me
because I dont believe this to be correct.
Amazing that I am the one being investigated!!!!!!!!!
Really cant be bothered with this anymore!
Just going to enjoy my day on Sunday !
I have done nothing wrong!
Nidge:
I will not be bullied Mr Goldberg, my investigation is ongoing as I have written evidence in the form of a private message stating that you requested £110 each for the tickets. I understand that you were in receipt of £110 for both and have two witnesses to back that story up.
We are in discussion with the website owners to confirm authenticity of alleged messages quoting prices above face value, which contradict your claims to me. As you know as from 10th April there is new legislation in the UK regarding the sale of football tickets, and makes it a criminal offence to sell tickets on for profit.
If found guiltyYou will be in breach of the Terms and Conditions of the Football Association ticket policy, and West Ham United's ticketing policy which could lead to a club ban on purchasing tickets/ season tickets as well as a ban from entering the stadium.
Tout:
It would be good to catch up with you.
If you have topped up your phone maybe you could give me a call to go
through this and I can clear up any queeries you may have as I did not
sell
these tickets on for a profit even if they were advertised to be sold
on for
profit (the plan always was that I was going to surprise the buyer with
the
fact that they were face value and that of course I wouldnt make a
profit
off another West Ham fan) - as explained, I am £10 short off the £110
that
was owed to me. I have been trying for the last few days to contact the
buyer to ask him for the £10 as the principle that he gave me an
incorrect
amount is wrong. Maybe if you dont have have any credit left on you're
phone
you could call me from the office? I can call you if there is a problem
though Im sure you are very busy what with only one working day before
a
major match and its surprising you have so much time to investigate a
problem where actually no-one has done anything wrong apart from this
bloke 'me!!' shorting me a tenner!
As you can imagine - this is the last time i do any favours for any
fans.
Regards
Marc
'nidge' is the name of our group and is an abbreviate of the town of Stevenage FYI
__________________________________________________ ____________
On tuesday a West Ham 'fan' offered me tickets for our semi final for double face value over on WestHamOnline the other day. On wednesday night I arranged to meet him and do the deal.
Over the course of the day I found out that this 'fan' had also said the same thing to at least 2 other people, about having the tickets, and them being the 1st to contact him blah blah blah. So naturally my suspicions are aroused.
Anyway, I contact him and he assures me he's straight up with me and they are mine for double face. Meet in pub car park at 7pm, job done.
The time comes and we're there waiting, this 'fan' turns up in a 6 month old BMW X5, not bad for someone who apparently so skint he cant afford to go to the match, hence needing to make money off his own fans.
He hands me the tickets and I hand him a sealed envelope with the money. He tells me they're good seats and he's sitting nearby. Well thats strange considering that you told me you had to sell for over the odds as you were too skint to go!!!
So we say our goodbyes, matey strolls back off to his X5 and I wheelspin outta the carpark and back onto the A1 so quick Schumacher would have been proud of the start I made.
2 minutes later and my mobile is going mental, its the tout.
He's opened the envelope and realised that there is only enough money in there to cover the face value of the tickets
Since then i have had numerous messages and texts from him giving it the big 'un about how the tickets will be cancelled and i wont be able to enter the ground, he's rung the club and told them that tickets have been stolen and he's geting duplicates sent out. This is total bollocks as I already had confirmation from west ham that they dont re-issue on lost or stolen tickets.
Today silence was broken when we set up a moody yahoo account and made contact with the tout trying to buy more tickets, below is the series of emails from today. Needless to say, billy big bollocks wasnt giving it quite so large by lunchtime today!
Tout:
You asked for tickets?
How did you get my mobile?
Who are you?
Nidge:
Have you got any spares, and how much?
I need to get sorted soon
Tout:
Who did you get my details from?
Nidge:
from a football forum, recieved a PM saying to ring/text this
number
I have an hour to book my train down to vill park and wont do it
unless
Tout:
Give me a call and we can discuss Mr Kitcher.
Nidge lad then rings tout, and then puts the phone down halfway through.
Nidge:
Sorry mate, need to top up my card.
What's the score..?
Tout:
I dont think i have any tickets to be honest. Only sell at face
value if i have them - would be really interested to know who gave you my mobile
number as i gave some tickets to someone the other day who drive off without
paying the full amount!!!!
Give me a call if you can.
Nidge:
Inetersting. I have a couple of witnesses suggesting you were trying
to tout tickts above face value AND that they paid what the tickets were worth.
We are still investigating and will get back to you as soon as
possible.
Tout:
Investigating what?
Tout:
So basically you tried to see if i was a ticket tout, which Im not.
A guy bought some tickets off me and only paid me £100 for two tickets
that
were worth £110 - i have tried calling him to get me the tenner he owes
me
because I dont believe this to be correct.
Amazing that I am the one being investigated!!!!!!!!!
Really cant be bothered with this anymore!
Just going to enjoy my day on Sunday !
I have done nothing wrong!
Nidge:
I will not be bullied Mr Goldberg, my investigation is ongoing as I have written evidence in the form of a private message stating that you requested £110 each for the tickets. I understand that you were in receipt of £110 for both and have two witnesses to back that story up.
We are in discussion with the website owners to confirm authenticity of alleged messages quoting prices above face value, which contradict your claims to me. As you know as from 10th April there is new legislation in the UK regarding the sale of football tickets, and makes it a criminal offence to sell tickets on for profit.
If found guiltyYou will be in breach of the Terms and Conditions of the Football Association ticket policy, and West Ham United's ticketing policy which could lead to a club ban on purchasing tickets/ season tickets as well as a ban from entering the stadium.
Tout:
It would be good to catch up with you.
If you have topped up your phone maybe you could give me a call to go
through this and I can clear up any queeries you may have as I did not
sell
these tickets on for a profit even if they were advertised to be sold
on for
profit (the plan always was that I was going to surprise the buyer with
the
fact that they were face value and that of course I wouldnt make a
profit
off another West Ham fan) - as explained, I am £10 short off the £110
that
was owed to me. I have been trying for the last few days to contact the
buyer to ask him for the £10 as the principle that he gave me an
incorrect
amount is wrong. Maybe if you dont have have any credit left on you're
phone
you could call me from the office? I can call you if there is a problem
though Im sure you are very busy what with only one working day before
a
major match and its surprising you have so much time to investigate a
problem where actually no-one has done anything wrong apart from this
bloke 'me!!' shorting me a tenner!
As you can imagine - this is the last time i do any favours for any
fans.
Regards
Marc