Hong Kong tourism chief demands apology, explanation over Coldplay ticketing mess

Hong Kong’s tourism chief has demanded Cityline provide an apology and explain how tickets for next month’s concerts by British rock band Coldplay were printed with the wrong information, angering fans who must now exchange them. Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Rosanna Law Shuk-pui said on Monday that Cityline “must be the one to explain the incident”, as it was solely responsible for the distribution of the tickets. “Cityline must explain to the public in a timely manner how they will remedy the situation, such as [through] ticket exchange arrangements,” she said, adding a satisfactory explanation was needed especially for those affected. “They should also apologise over the incident.” Coldplay will play at Kai Tak Stadium on April 8, 9, 11 and 12 as part of its “Music of the Spheres” world tour. It will be among the first wave of concerts and events to be held at the 50,000-seat stadium at the new Kai Tak Sports Park. Hong Kong fans faced long wait times to exchange the misprinted tickets on Monday, prompting widespread frustration and complaints. Crowds gathered during lunchtime at one of the seven exchange centres in the city to replace their tickets. At stake were standing tickets priced at HK$1,399 (US$180). The Post learned that some customers were mistakenly issued VIP tickets with much higher prices. At an exchange centre at Olympia Plaza in North Point on Monday, scores of fans were queuing at a counter by 1pm. They said they had to hand over their misprinted tickets to the counter staff, who would upload their information into the system. They then had to wait for a new code to be generated before their new tickets could be printed. A fan, who gave her name as Jamie, said: “It’s so stupid. I actually bought multiple tickets that I’ve already passed on to my friends, but now everybody has to go and exchange the tickets.” The whole process, including commute and wait time, took her around two hours in total, she said, noting that the exchange location in North Point was the only one available on Hong Kong Island. “There was no explanation whatsoever. If they made a mistake, they should fix it without affecting everybody else,” she said. She added that another ticket holder who was waiting in line with her had resold a few of the misprinted tickets on Carousell, but could no longer get in touch with the buyers to tell them of the error. “It’s only around two more weeks until the concert. It’s a mess,” she added. An affected ticket holder who gave his name as Tom said he ended up waiting for around 30 minutes for the new code to be generated. “It’s really frustrating,” the 50-year-old said. “It’s during lunch, but I have to get back to the office.” Another fan, surnamed Yip, said she waited for about 10 minutes in the queue. “But it could have been handled better. I didn’t get an email about it. I had to find out from the news,” she said. “I’m a Hong Kong resident, so it’s not that bad, but for fans on the mainland, it would be more difficult.” Cody He, 28, a fan in Sichuan province, said he also was frustrated by the situation. “This is the first time I’m experiencing that ticket buyers and third-party sites are being forced to shoulder the burden for a company’s own mistake,” he said. But he praised how Moretickets, the third-party ticketing platform he used to make his purchase, handled the situation. It contacted him directly and covered the mailing costs for returning the tickets. He will receive the new ones by mail, saving him a trip to Cityline’s exchange points in Guangdong province. “It’s a lot less hassle than going to exchange on our own,” he said. “I don’t think I’ll be going to Hong Kong for a concert again, it’s outrageous.” Cityline previously said that fans would need to exchange their tickets at one of the seven locations in the city between March 24 and April 7 and the previous tickets would be deemed invalid. This prompted Hong Kong authorities to step in to ask the company to provide more remedial measures. Following the intervention of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, Cityline added two locations for exchange across the border, in Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Fans are able to swap the tickets right up until the shows start and receive a refund for handling fees. Incensed fans over the border had bombarded a Chinese social media account of Law to voice their discontent over the weekend. More than 100 internet users posted complaints on Law’s RedNote account, urging her to ensure that fans outside Hong Kong could exchange their tickets for new ones. This was the second time this year Cityline has been embroiled in controversy over a mega-event. In February, fans hoping to purchase tickets to see K-pop girl group NJZ, formerly NewJeans, at ComplexCon on Sunday complained the dates on their passes were changed to either of two other dates of the three-day festival. While Cityline denied there were any glitches to its systems, organisers of ComplexCon eventually had to issue refunds and add additional ticket sales sessions.

Hong Kong tourism chief demands apology, explanation over Coldplay ticketing mess

Cityline comes under fire from Rosanna Law as fans queue for hours to exchange tickets for new ones with correct information

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