Viagogo in the spotlight again after Kiwi woman sold P!nk concert tickets with same name as the company's former vice president

Many New Zealanders have been left out of pocket.

Secondhand ticket seller Viagogo's in the spotlight again after tickets were sold with the same name as the company's former vice president.

The tickets, to a P!nk concert in Auckland this September, were issued to Whanganui woman Effy O'Neil.

When she received them, she noticed the name on the ticket was an "Alexander Levenson".

A search by Fair Go couldn't find any record of a person by the name of "Alexander Levenson" in New Zealand.

But there is one Alexander Levenson who has been involved with Viagogo in the past – the company's former vice president of its Australasian division, now living in New York.

That Mr Levenson has told Fair Go the tickets are not his.

In an email received after our original story went to air, he said "I did not purchase these tickets and believe that my name and identity was fraudulently used to purchase the tickets".

A documentary shown in the United Kingdom in 2012 revealed Viagogo used credit cards in the name of company employees to make multiple purchases of tickets directly from primary sellers such as Ticketmaster.

Mr Levenson said he had asked his former employer to look into how the tickets had been purchased in his name.

“I have not been with Viagogo for many years but I have asked them to investigate the incident”.

Viagogo didn't respond to Fair Go's query as to how Mr Levenson's name could have ended up on the P!nk tickets issued to Ms O'Neil.

And Ticketmaster didn't reply to emails requesting information about how the company prevents secondary sellers like Viagogo from purchasing tickets directly.

The Commerce Commission is still investigating Viagogo, after receiving more than 400 complaints about its business practice in New Zealand.

The company has been accused of charging undisclosed fees, pressure-selling tactics, and exorbitant mark ups on the face value of event tickets in New Zealand.

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