In May of last year, a Ticketmaster customer showed up to what they thought was a Foreigner concert with original band member Mick Jones. Imagine their surprise when they discovered they’d purchased almost $300 worth of tickets to a tribute band.
An anonymous customer filed a complaint with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office after this disappointing experience. They say the site advertised the show with both a picture and a bio of founding member Mick Jones, strongly alluding to his presence and performance. The customer arrived at the show at Proctors Theatre in Schenectady, New York, and Mick Jones was not there.
“This is a fraud being put on people,” the customer argues. “We would have never gone to the show, at those prices, if we knew”.
After the show turned out to be nothing more than a cover band, the customer contacted Ticketmaster by mail to resolve the issue. They received no reply.
Many more customers took to the event’s review section on Ticketmaster with the same complaint.
Below is the full anonymous complaint filed to NYAG on May 27, 2016.
Paid $270 for 4 tickets to see the band Foreigner at Proctors. Ads for the show included pictures and bio of founding guitarist Mick Jones as being part of the group. Everyone else in the band is a fill in or non original member. When the band took the stage, there was no Mick Jones. We basically paid $70 per ticket to see a tribute band. We would have never gone to this show, at those prices, if we knew we were seeing a “cover” band or tribute band. A friend of mine saw the same band, advertised with Mick Jones, even on the theatre sign, in Niagara Falls, NY – and no original members. No Mick Jones. This is a fraud being put on people.