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More details emerge in Action Seating Olympics tickets debacle
The attorney representing Arizona-based ticket broker eSeats.com in a lawsuit over an alleged scam of Vancouver Olympics tickets said the defense, Action Seating of Atlanta, is currently without counsel.
Lawrenceville, GA-based attorney David Will, who is representing eSeats in the lawsuit it filed earlier in the month, told TicketNews that he has no idea who is representing Action Seating at this point.
"There are no settlement talks whatsoever," Will said. "There's nobody to talk to."
The lawsuit stems from eSeats, Toronto-based ShowTimeTickets.com and a host of other brokers being left without Winter Olympics tickets for dozens of customers because of their supplier, Action Seating, allegedly being victimized in a multi-million-dollar ticket fraud.
Action Seating, owned by wholesale ticket broker Gene Hammett, allegedly took money and orders for tickets but then allegedly had the money stolen by a foreign ticket supplier. In a letter to brokers dated January 29, two weeks before the Winter Games commenced, Action Seating informed the brokers of the situation and said they were not receiving tickets and probably would not be receiving their money back.
According to Will, eSeats is out $420,000 as a result of the alleged scam. The company began ordering Olympics tickets from Action Seating in December of 2008, and Action Seating allegedly entered into a contract that said it guaranteed "all tickets and will pay replacement cost if necessary for any tickets not delivered."
Will said that after several attempts, he was finally able to reach Atlanta-based attorney Gordon Berger, who wrote the letter to brokers about the alleged scam, but Berger told him that he was no longer representing Hammett and Action Seating.
Berger did not return a message seeking comment. Hammett could not be reached for comment.
"I think eSeats and other brokers who were burned are trying to get tickets for their customers from alternative sources, but they haven't been able to locate any," Will said.
In a statement, eSeats CEO Bob Bernstein said that "in the last 10 years in the ticket business, this is the first time a broker has failed to provide eSeats with its purchased tickets."
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I was a victim of GENE HAMMETTS fraud.
His cell phone number is ***-***-**** if anyone wants to chat with him. This is his actual cell phone, he answered when I called.
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Ticketsnow....Ticketnetwork...Stubhub....take these guys off the boards
unless they have taken care of the customers..
Problem is ticketsnow, ticketnetwork and stubhub, ticket technology, do not care if the consumer gets screwed, as long as they get their percentage from the consumer and brokers. We could complain about this until we are blue in the face. MONEY is the bottom line for them and they do not care how it is acquired. We created these monsters when we allowed them to upload our inventory and the access to steal the customers. Regret that I contributed to their debauchery. Just remember we created these monsters. Question is, how do we regain our control over them, cause frankly am sick of having them in my business.
To be honest I have no sympathy to any of the parties involved. You buy tickets from a 3rd party then you had better do your homework and verify who you are buying from. No doubt it was greed that blinded the companies involved. I mean really, do you hand over a stack of cash to just anyone on the internet?
GIVE ME A BREAK A FOREIGN TICKETS SUPPLIER SENDING MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR TO A UNNAME SUPPLIER ACTION SEATING GENE HAMMETT IS THE F**** THERE IS NO SUPPLIER FROM HONG HONG HE TAKE THAT MONEY AND HE WILL GET AWAY WITH IT.
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Gene Hammett is a *******. He has been involved in shady practices for years. For all of you that gave this guy $$$ before he delivered the tickets, you should have done some background checking. This is the same guy that left customers outside at ACC tournaments, BCS Championship games, and numerous other events.
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but I know two guys he trained and left. They are addicts and crooks. Be very careful in this industry. I've only been in 8 years but I have learned the hard way who not to buy from or to sell to. Anyone who was associated with Gene and who works the Masters will steal from you. It's not a matter of IF but WHEN. And when they steal, they have the audacity to curse you out rather than making things right. Gene was a stand-up guy compared to the cronies he trained in Augusta who now sell hundreds of badges on eBay, Stubhub, and the ticket boards.
This is the exact reason why the secondary ticket market should be strictly regulated and have adequate, independant oversight put in place
Taking orders for tickets that you do not possess, or have title to, is speculating with peoples money without any of the regulation or oversight you would have in the financial sector
eSeats took peoples money for tickets they did not have or own
Speculative ticketing
I hope the victims take a class action against the companies that have failed to provide them with tickets
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