‘How are you going to scam purchasing customers and take influencers for free?’: Festival-goer says she received fake Coachella wristband from SeatGeek

TikTokers are going wild after a Coachella festival attendee says she received a fake wristband that was originally purchased on SeatGeek. 

Over two videos, TikTok user Abelyn calls out SeatGeek and recounts her entire experience attempting to use a ticket she claims was bought from the site.

Abelyn’s original video has over 3.6 million views, with a follow-up receiving over 235,000 views.

According to Abelyn, she purchased the wristband from someone who purchased it through SeatGeek. The wristband turned out to be fake, she says. 

While some suggested that Abelyn was instead scammed by that person, not SeatGeek, Abelyn dismissed that notion. She says she knows the person, they refunded her personally, and they helped her find a new ticket once this one proved fraudulent.

Additionally, Abelyn says she also tried purchasing tickets from Ticketmaster. However, she says it lost her and her family’s tickets and instead instructed her to go to a will call window to pick up other ones. There, she says she was told her she will need to get a refund and buy new tickets, as they could not identify her tracking number. Upon trying to buy new tickets, Abelyn says was informed that the weekend had just sold out. As a result, Abelyn says she missed the first evening’s events.

In comments, users shared their own SeatGeek complaints.

“Seatgeek is to NEVER be trusted,” one highly rated comment reads.

“And the fact that seatgeek is sponsoring and taking influencers to go,” another wrote. In response, Abelyn agreed, writing, “it’s a joke at this point. how are you going to scam purchasing customers and take influencers for free?”

Many were sympathetic to Abelyn’s plight. Some put the blame on Coachella itself.

“Girl I’m so sorry you’re going though this,” one user wrote. “The whole organization of the festival this year seems messy.”

Along with its highlights, Yahoo News documented the many problems Coachella faced during its first weekend. 

According to the article, many bands in the Sonora tent faced major audio issues. Additionally, the Yuma tent reportedly had massive lines wrapping around the stage, owing to the stage only having one entrance and exit. 

“By Friday night, fans had already torn down some of the barriers creating the line,” Yahoo News reported.

Additionally, while it is not officially associated with Coachella, the invite-only Revolve Festival is a major draw for influencers attending Coachella. 

This year’s Revolve Festival has reportedly drawn comparisons to the ill-fated Fyre Festival after influencers were left in the sun for hours without water.

Thankfully, according to her later comments and videos, Abelyn eventually made it into the festival the following day.

Ticketmaster did not respond to Daily Dot’s request for comment via email. Abelyn did not respond to Daily Dot’s request for comment via TikTok comment.

Update 1:51pm CT, April 21: SeatGeek told the Daily Dot that because Abelyn did not purchase the tickets directly from the company, the safeguards it has in place to protect customers did not apply to her.

“We have a full fan experience team onsite at Coachella and other major events to ensure a seamless event. If Abelyn had been able to work with them, our team would have immediately realized that the wristband she had was from 2020 and then helped her work through to a better outcome,” a SeatGeek representative told the Daily Dot.

It noted that each ticket is backed by its Buyer Guarantee, which ensures customers will receive a ticket or a refund if their purchased ticket is invalid. The company said sellers that offer up invalid tickets receive a high penalty and are banned after repeated offenses.

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