Ticket holders affected by the Ticket Rocket fiasco should not expect to get their money back from the organization, as the New Zealand-based business is now in receivership.
The country’s High Court froze hundreds of thousands of dollars of the company’s money after the struggling ticketing business went into receivership on Aug. 31, according to news outlets in New Zealand. Canadian businessman Matthew Davey — who purchased a rugby team in Dunedin, N.Z. — owns Ticket Rocket, which has been in the spotlight there since June after complaints about it surfaced.
Meanwhile, the company has had problems in Moose Jaw since February after it initially failed to make payments for the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. It eventually paid the event money to the municipality but has refused to pay back customers who purchased tickets for hockey games and concerts in March.
Ticket Rocket owes at least $200,000 for the Moose Jaw events. While ticket holders won’t see a cent of that money, a municipality in New Zealand managed to attain $676,000 of the company’s frozen money. However, the rugby team is out $200,000, the stadium where they play is short $3,000, a not-for-profit youth theatre took a $15,000 hit, and an entertainment group lost $25,000.
New Zealand’s consumer chief executive Jon Duffy said people are unlikely to get refunds from ticketing company Fortress Information Systems Ltd., which also traded as Ticket Rocket and formerly Ticket Direct.
“You’ve got a legal process that’s now in train,” Duffy told Otaga Daily News. “Ticket-holders come last in potentially a long list of other creditors, which is unfortunate for people who just wanted to go to a rugby game (or other events).”
If the receivers could keep the company going to pay back creditors, the company could, in theory, survive, he continued. Typically, it would be wound up and its assets, once sold, would be divided among the liquidator, secured creditors, preferential creditors such as employees, and finally, unsecured creditors such as people who paid for tickets.
“Unfortunately, in these types of situations, the majority of customers will be unsecured creditors and they will come last on the list,” Duffy added.
When reached for comment, Mayor Fraser Tolmie said by email that he could not comment on Ticket Rocket's status since he had not read any of the news reports from New Zealand and could not verify those statements as being true.
Tolmie pointed to a news release that Ticket Rocket issued in early June, which said the company was able to offer complete refunds for anyone who purchased tickets to the cancelled concerts or hockey games. The mayor understood that the business was to provide the refunds by Aug. 22, but failed to do so.
“I am upset that Ticket Rocket has failed to live up to its promise,” he added.
Repeated attempts to reach officials at Ticket Rocket were unsuccessful by press time.
BDO Christchurch is managing the receivership, a move that was made under the terms of a general security agreement, according to New Zealand media.
On its website, the company explains that it went into receivership at 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 31. However, that hasn’t affected the sale of tickets, as the website is continuing to sell as normal. Tickets for an ABBA tribute show on Nov. 29 and Bon Iver on April 10, 2021, are still for sale.
“All post-receivership ticket receipts through the websites are protected so that customers get a valid ticket or their money refunded. Any transaction through this website is strictly on the basis that the receivers do not accept any personal liability for the obligations of the companies in receivership,” the message reads.
