Washington Pavilion Issues Scam Warning to Ticket Buyers

It's a sad but true fact in the world we live in today.

As much as we want to, we can't trust everything we see on the internet.

We were reminded of that this week when the Washington Pavilion in Sioux Falls felt compelled to remind people who go online to purchase tickets for events at the facility to be careful where they click.

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Under the heading 'Ticket Buyers Beware', the email, sent to past customers and current pavilion members, warns that:

'Many sites and individuals peddle overpriced and, in some cases, fake tickets. Tickets that are found to be fraudulent will deny you admission and are not able to be refunded or exchanged.'   

The Pavilion also reminded online purchasers of the only three legitimate websites that are authorized ticket brokers for the facility:

• WashingtonPavilion.org/tickets   
• SiouxFallsOrpheum.com/events-tickets/upcoming-events
• 3eEncore.com

A quick search for 'Washington Pavilion Tickets' on Yahoo! quickly illustrates the problem.

The first three sites that pop up are NOT affiliated with the Pavilion. Instead, they are for ticket broker sites with names like TicketSales.com, VividSeats.com, and BoxOfficeTicketSales.com.

But it isn't just the Washington Pavilion that is having this issue.

Online ticket buyers at Sioux Falls' other major concert venue, the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center, have had similar experiences on Yahoo!.

When you search for 'Denny Sanford Premier Center Tickets', you are first directed to the before-mentioned broker sites, as well as additional sites like the look-alike PremierCenterSiouxFalls.org, as well as EventTicketsCenter.com.

A little homework will help you know whether or not you've landed on a legitimate site or a broker site.

The most valuable piece of information you can arm yourself with is the actual face value of the tickets you are trying to purchase. If the price you see on a website is higher than that, you're probably in the wrong place.

As always, the two most important words to remember any time you attempt to buy anything online are 'buyer beware'.