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Original poster

Would you expect payment for a ticket you couldn’t use?

57 replies

dvictosjb · 15/10/2023 14:31

If you’d bought tickets to go to an event and then couldn’t go would you

Expect payment if another person could use it
Give or away for free?
Expect like 50% cost jack?

OP posts:
TigerRag · 15/10/2023 14:32

Depends on the cost

Gymmum82 · 15/10/2023 14:33

Depends on the cost and whether the tickets could easily be sold on.

A major artist like Taylor swift where you could sell the tickets for face value in a second obviously I would expect payment.
Something like a local theatre show where selling on is unlikely to happen I would give them away for free

RJnomore1 · 15/10/2023 14:33

Very much depends on:
who I gave it to
financial situation
cost of the ticket

eg if it was a £10 ticket for a comedy gig in a pub that I gave to a good friend, nothing

if it was a £100 plus gig ticket to someone I didn’t really know I’d expect them to buy it from me

Original poster
dvictosjb · 15/10/2023 14:35

Yeah sorry context is everything … I’d say ticket is up to £35 and it’s for an event. Not to see an artist.

OP posts:
ProvisionsOnTheDock · 15/10/2023 14:35

Generally, no I would not expect payment. I would rather someone was able to use the ticket than get any money back.

Photographsandmemories · 15/10/2023 14:36

Face value back is OK to ask

My team's football tix are rarer than rockinghorse shite this season so the resale value is something like x3 or x4. In those circs asking face value for tix is really reasonable

Ragwort · 15/10/2023 14:37

I personally wouldn't but I am quite comfortably off and if the ticket was going to waste I would rather it was used. But recently a friend offered me a ticket to something as someone else had let her down, I wasn't particularly bothered about going but did as a kindness as she didn't want to go alone ... I offered to pay for the ticket and thought she might have said 'don't worry it's my treat' but she happily took it from me! Slightly different scenario I suppose as perhaps the original friend was meant to be paying for the ticket.
Years ago I had to forego a trip to Paris & gave away the whole trip .....

zurala · 15/10/2023 14:38

Generally you end up having to give tickets like this away in order for it to be used as usually the person who uses it wouldn't have gone to the event otherwise so doesn't want to spend the money.
It would help if you posted the actual situation instead of being cryptic.

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 15/10/2023 14:38

No I wouldn’t expect payment, I’d rather gift it to someone than it go to waste.

Snipples · 15/10/2023 14:38

I'd just give it to a friend unless funds were tight. We had to miss a kids showing of the gruffalo due to chickenpox and gave them to a friend rather than have empty seats. She did offer to pay though

Charlingspont · 15/10/2023 14:39

My friend had a situation like this last year. A stepmum (A) and her friend (B) said they'd take stepdaughter (C) and stepdaughter's friend (D) to a concert. They booked expensive tickets, which D's mum would not ordinarily have booked, but she paid for D's ticket anyway.

A week before the concert, A said she had too much going on in her life, and could D's mum take the girls instead. D's mum said yes, but that she could not afford to buy A's ticket. So A's mum said fine, have it for free.

But it was all a bit uncomfortable.

MyGooseisTotallyLoose · 15/10/2023 14:39

Was the ticket asked for or offered?

HoHoHoliday · 15/10/2023 14:40

If the event is sold out and people still want tickets then I'd sell on at face value. Otherwise, I'd give away. You've already paid and you can't go so that money is spent. Someone else may as well benefit. I'd rather give away than see the opportunity wasted.

SleepingStandingUp · 15/10/2023 14:41

Can you get a refund if no one uses it? Who's using it? I'd feel differently to my sister using it than he's ex's best mates sister iyswim

Starlightstarbright2 · 15/10/2023 14:41

I would pay, mainly if other person was planning to go with you , they need to find someone else to go with .

assuming I agreed in the first place to dates/ price etc .

Electrictache · 15/10/2023 14:45

For me, it would totally depend on whether someone is coming to keep me company and use the ticket or whether they would have wanted to go anyway.
I went with a mate to a gig to fill the seat. I would never have bought a ticket and didn't really enjoy it and my friend didn't want the money.

At other times I've sold tickets or paid a friend for their spare happily.

Judystilldreamsofhorses · 15/10/2023 14:51

We had tickets to see Derren Brown and DP got Covid so we offered them up on Twitter. The person offered to pay, but the money had been spent months ago and it was just about them not being wasted for a sold-out show.

1month · 15/10/2023 14:54

It depends who you’re giving them to.

A friend or family member I wouldn’t charge (but would perhaps hope they offered some money).

If it was someone I hardly knew then I’d expect payment.

It also depends on why you’re giving them away/what you’ve said.

If you can’t go but you don’t want to go through the hassle of selling them and you don’t want them to go to waste.
Then I’d let the person know that you don’t want payment for them.

But if you want some money back for them then I’d ask if they want to buy them fir C amount, before you offer them to someone else.

I was given last minute tickets and was very grateful for them.
The person (my sister) made it sound like they just didn’t want them to go to waste.
Then she wanted the money and kicked off when I said I didn’t have it.
I did pay her a couple weeks later when I got paid but it left me short and she was really annoyed about it still.

So definitely be up front.
If you want money for them then say it and say how much you want.

Kittenkitty · 15/10/2023 14:57

I think it depends, is it a pair of tickets or a single ticket?
I took a spare ticket to a comedian once, I wouldn’t have paid to see him but my friends companion pulled out and she was glad of the company, the original companion lost out on their money but at least they didn’t also let their friend down.
If it’s a pair of tickets I think I would try and sell them and be clear about price. I have given them away at the last minute before to avoid them going to waste.

DaphneMoo · 15/10/2023 14:59

I would give away, I once gave my childminder a week hol in a caravan park as my plans changed, break cost me several hundred, all she paid was the admin charge to change names. Possibly would want money if ticket was for a concert that I knew someone had wanted tickets for but unable to get as they were sold out but generally would give away

Bollindger · 15/10/2023 15:00

While I would give it away for free... This says more about the person who gets the ticket.
If I had enough money I would give the person the ticket price.
If they wouldn't take it and I knew them, flowers and a bottle of wine and note saying how enjoyable it was.
If they really said no. Donate a sum to charity.

YourNameGoesHere · 15/10/2023 15:02

I wouldn't expect any money for a ticket I couldn't use. I'd far rather it wasn't wasted.

EightChalk · 15/10/2023 15:03

I wouldn't expect payment. The way I look at non-refundable tickets is that once the ticket's bought, whether I go or not is immaterial - the money's gone either way.

Floralnomad · 15/10/2023 15:08

I would give it away , it’s going to go to waste anyway if you can’t go .

Sunplant · 15/10/2023 15:10

I would give it away. It's better than it going to waste.
I think in most cases the person I gave it to would offer payment but I wouldn't accept it.