麻豆社

Ed Sheeran fans are fighting for refunds after discovering their tickets for his 2018 world tour are invalid.

Face value tickets prices for Ed Sheeran鈥檚 Cardiff concert in June 2018 ranged from as little as 拢49.50 to 拢82.50. But music teacher, Julie Morgan, from Cowbridge, spent 拢400 for two tickets for her teenage daughters through the secondary ticketing site Viagogo.

But soon after the purchase she discovered the tickets would not be honoured. In an attempt to prevent fans from paying above face value, Ed Sheeran鈥檚 official promoter Kilimanjaro announced that any resold tickets are 鈥渁utomatically invalidated for entry to the venue鈥�.

So Mrs Morgan contacted Viagogo for a refund 鈥� but she was told she could either relist the tickets on their site, or have the tickets stamped invalid at the venue for a possible refund.

Mrs Morgan said: 鈥淚 can鈥檛 imagine actually going to a concert with two teenage daughters with hundreds of other people who are all excited about going in and us just presenting our tickets only to be declined entry and come away. I won鈥檛.鈥�

After Kilimanjaro released its statement, other secondary tickets sites have stopped selling the tickets, but almost three months on, Viagogo continues to do so.

麻豆社 Wales鈥� consumer programme X-Ray contacted Stuart Galbraith from the promotion company Kilimanjaro and asked how he felt about Viagogo ignoring the wishes of Ed Sheeran and his team.

鈥淲e鈥檙e very disappointed. We鈥檝e asked them repeatedly not to list the tickets; we鈥檝e told them repeatedly they will not be valid,鈥� he said.

鈥淎ll we鈥檙e now doing is that anyone who comes to us with tickets and they鈥檙e concerned, we鈥檙e giving them advice on how to go about obtaining a refund and then we鈥檙e hooking them up with face value tickets.鈥�

This isn鈥檛 the first time Viagogo has hit the headlines. In February this year, Viagogo were accused of 鈥渕oral repugnance鈥� when selling tickets well above face value for Ed Sheeran鈥檚 concert in benefit of The Teenage Cancer Trust.

X-Ray contacted Viagogo, but they refused to comment, beyond referring us to the terms and conditions on their website which describe the restrictions introduced by Ed Sheeran's promoters as highly unfair, unenforceable and illegal. Viagogo says its customers should feel confident that they will gain entry to the event, as every ticket is backed by the Viagogo guarantee.聽聽

Farming Energy Solutions Ltd was a company based in Llanelli that offered a range of services 鈥� from helping farmers to get wind turbines to building conservatories for homes.

The common factor was that many customers were left with questions over where their money went.

Cliff Pearce is a sheep and cattle farmer. Two years ago he was approached by a business offering to help him install solar panels, and get a wind turbine built on his land. First, he had to pay 拢1200 for feasibility studies.

Cliff said: 鈥淭hey said that it was the ideal spot for a wind turbine, and they were saying that we'd get 拢21-拢22,000 over 20 years, every year. I would have all my electric paid as well. I was over the moon.鈥�

Two of the men involved in the business making these promises were Julian Evans and John Matthews, director of Farming Energy Solutions based in Llanelli. But Cliff says that once he'd paid, he struggled to get any answers.
He said: 鈥淭hey would actually say it's in progress. We'll let you know as soon as ever anything happens, but never not a word.鈥�

X-Ray has spoken to nearly twenty farmers across Wales, the West Country and the Midlands who have all had dealings with the same group of people.聽They paid money and it seems that while feasibility studies were done, none of them ended up with wind turbines. The farmers were told that if their land was suitable, a bigger company would take-over the work of building the turbine. But when that didn't happen, some of the farmers say they expected to get their money back. And whilst the names of the companies they dealt with varied, Farming Energy Solutions was at the heart of it.

Last year the company branched out into conservatories. Ian and Julie Miles, from Bodelwyddan in Denbighshire, bought one in July of last year, but the company's first attempt at the conservatory was so poor Julian Evans and John Matthews agreed it had to be torn down. Their second attempt was never finished, even though the couple paid just over 拢12,000. The company had run into financial problems, and their conservatory has no roof or glass.

Ian said: 鈥�14 months of a rollercoaster emotionally and still no conservatory.鈥�

Shirley Collins, from Carmarthen, also chose Farming Energy Solutions for her conservatory. The 83-year-old paid them nearly eight thousand pounds, and says she was befriended by Julian Evans.

She said: 鈥淛ulian was the one that phoned me, Julian was the one who came here. I thought he was looking for not just a mother figure... a grandmother figure.鈥�

The conservatory was supposed to be finished while she was on holiday in Portugal, but Shirley discovered no work had been done. After that, she says Julian Evans tried to reassure her by giving her a ride in his Ferrari to see the company offices. Despite the road trip, Shirley ended up paying someone else nearly twelve thousand pounds to complete the conservatory. She feels Julian Evans betrayed her trust.聽

She told X-Ray: 鈥淚 knew Julian had been in some trouble before...he was telling me how honest he was and he really tugged at my heart strings.鈥�

Five years ago Julian Evans admitted fraud charges linked to his family's double glazing firm and was disqualified from being a company director until 2022.

Both Julian Evans and John Matthews told X-Ray they did carry out all the feasibility studies for the wind turbines, and the money farmers paid them was never refundable. But they blamed each other for Farming Energy Solutions' financial difficulties. John Matthews said he did all he could to help the customers, while Julian Evans said he was only a sales rep. He said he only met Ian and Julie once and did his best to help Shirley.