Better Business Bureau issues alert about confusion over third-party ticket reseller

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The Better Business Bureau has issued an alert about what it calls confusion over one third-party ticket reseller.

"My sister and a friend and I, it was our birthdays. We love Billy Porter. So it was 10 o'clock at night and I was online I said, 'let's find Billy Porter tickets'," said Mariann Aalda of Homewood.

She said she quickly searched online for those tickets for the show at the Chicago Theatre. She clicked on the first link that popped up.

"And I clicked on that link and then you see a picture of the Chicago Theater so I thought I was purchasing them directly from the box office," she said.

But Aalda said what she didn't realize is she wasn't buying from the box office or Ticketmaster. Instead she was on Tickets-Center.com, a third-party reseller. She paid more than $650 for three tickets.

"And they couldn't tell me what row or what seat, just an area," Aalda said.

Tickets-Center.com did provide her with the tickets within a few days after her purchase, but by then Aalda had asked for a refund, which was denied. Then she disputed the charges.

After that she went directly to the Chicago Theatre's box office, where she said she got similar tickets for about a third of the cost.

"There are often additional fees that come in when you use them a reselling platform. And the price is usually much higher," said Chrstine Sauers of the Better Business Burea in Delaware.

Delaware is the location of Tickets-Center.com's virtual address, according to the BBB.

The BBB issued an alert on the company saying it's a third-party seller. The alert reminds potentially confused customers that the company is not Ticketmaster.

"So in the last 12 months, we've had well over our 800 complaints," Sauers said. "For this company alone, and the majority of those complaints are from consumers that are just confused by who they're really dealing with. Are they dealing with the third party?"

If you look at the bottom of Tickets-Center.com's website, it does say the company "is not affiliated with any box office or venue... Prices are set by sellers and may be above or below face value."

When the I-Team called, we couldn't get ahold of anyone, but their message says, "We are a ticket resale marketplace and are not affiliated with Ticketmaster or any primary venue box office...All sales are final."

In addition to calling that number, the I-Team also emailed Tickets-Center.com at two different email addresses and submitted an inquiry on its online form. We have not yet heard back.

This is also a great reminder that not every concert is like Taylor Swift or Beyoncé. You may be able to skip the third party resellers and go directly to the venue or the official ticket seller to save.