ADR Annual Report 2022-23

ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION Annual Report - Year 6
1 June 2022 - 31 May 2023

The report below represents those disputes that have come to STAR to be dealt with under the ADR process.

The report below is provided in line with the requirements and guidelines for reporting provided by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute.

NUMBER OF DISPUTES RECEIVED
Number received Domestic Cross-border
a) Total 1,937 1,911 26
b) Types of Dispute
Advertising 63 63 0
Booking and Processing Fees 89 88 0
Cancellation 103 99 4
Customer Care 168 167 1
Customer Error 53 53 0
Delivery Issues 152 150 2
Double Booking 8 8 0
Event Issue 128 127 1
Exchange 18 18 0
General Inquiry 80 78 2
Gift Card 72 72 0
Lost Tickets 1 1 0
Mailling List 1 1 0
Other 21 21 0
Premium Pricing 3 3 0
Pricing 24 22 0
Refund and Exchange Policy 653 645 8
Reselling 80 76 4
Restricted View 82 82 0
Scams 2 2 0
Seating 51 51 0
Ticket Error 23 22 1
Ticket Insurance 2 2 0
Tickets Selling Out Quickly 14 14 0
Pricing 4 4 0
Website Error 46 46 0
The above figures include the following relating directly to the COVID-19 pandemic 87 86 1
c) & d) SYSTEMIC OR SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS OCCURRING FREQUENTLY

Refunding of ticket cost to an account or card that has been closed or cancelled.
The gap between the original purchase and an event date that may have been rescheduled because of the pandemic, sometimes several times, can mean that refunds may be issued to a card or account that has since been changed or closed. This can result in the refund being received by the bank but not provided to the customer. The ticket seller no longer has the funds and cannot reverse the refund or make a new refund to a different account. The customer must contact the bank or card provider for the funds to be located and returned to them. This is frustrating for everyone:

  • For the ticket seller as the customer holds them responsible for something they are unable to change.
  • For the customer who considers the ticket seller to be responsible.
  • For STAR as we are unable to help either side in resolving this issue.

We have found that different merchant agreements seem to require ticket sellers to process things in different ways. Some are able to refund to new account details if they are provided in advance by the customer. Others are required to only refund the original payment source. We are including this for a third year as a significant issue which was principally an effect of the pandemic. It has been something that we have been unable to help with in an efficient way, partly because of the number of variables and parties involved, but it is also an issue we expect to see reduce in 2023-2024.

Cancelled or rescheduled events and refunds
A very high number of events were rescheduled out of the pandemic and into 2022, particularly over the summer. This certainly had an impact on the volume of contacts received by STAR in this reporting year and therefore on our resources to deal with those contacts. This has also resulted in a very high number of enquiries in advance of the customer having contacted the ticket seller as well as many general enquiries (noted at Non ADR above). In the vast majority of cases, customer concerns are addressed by the ticket seller, though the sheer volume of contacts with sellers by buyers, as well as the complications of the situation, have led to longer response times.
e) DISPUTES THAT HAVE BEEN REFUSED OR DISCONTINUED
Reason for Refusal Number % of Total
A – Not yet raised with trader 336 30.3%
B – Frivolous, vexatious or malicious 68 6.1%
C – Previously considered by this or another ADR 1 0.1%
STAR - E - Event delivery (beyond STAR scope) 70 6.3%
STAR - G – Non-STAR member (beyond the scope of STAR) 59 5.5%
Non ADR (such as no purchase of tickets) 576 51.9%
Total 1,110 100%
f) DISPUTES DISCONTINUED FOR OPERATIONAL REASONS Number discontinued % of total initiated
Impair STAR operation 0 0%
Conflict of Interest 0 0%
g) AVERAGE TIME TAKEN TO RESOLVE DISPUTES Average time taken* (days)
Domestic Cross Border
Average time taken to resolve disputes (from receipt of complaint)
36 32
Average time taken to resolve disputes (from ‘complete complaint file’)
17 -
Total average time taken to resolve disputes                                   28 days
h) RATE OF COMPLIANCE 100%