A BOLTON woman claims she has been caught up in a ticket trading nightmare that has left her almost £13,000 out of pocket.

Victoria Whalley, who traded as TicketMistress and lives in Lostock, failed to deliver event tickets to customers who had paid up front.

She was speaking after being contacted by The Bolton News on behalf of disappointed people from around the country, who had not received tickets.

Customers say Mrs Whalley contacted them after they had tried to buy tickets for Erasure via the marketing site Viagogo.

She told them she would sell direct to them at a cheaper price.

As the event dates neared, they contacted her as they had not received their tickets but say they failed to get answers.

Some claimed they were blocked by her on Facebook and Twitter.

Some customers were refunded for their tickets, but say they were still left out of pocket for transport and hotels.

They were also left disappointed about missing out on concerts in locations including Edinburgh and Newcastle.

Among the people spoken to by The Bolton News is Susan Pearson, from Elgin, Scotland. She had paid £213 for three tickets to see Erasure in Edinburgh on February 3 in the summer.

She started to pursue Mrs Whalley for the tickets a couple of weeks before and says Mrs Whalley then blocked and ignored her on social issue so opened a complaint with Paypal and got the money back.

Emails show Mrs Whalley saying she would send the tickets if she closed the issue with Paypal but Mrs Pearson said she would only do so when she got the tickets.

She said she was left 'devastated' she was not able to attend and had also booked accommodation for the trip.

Sharon Jones, from South Shields, bought Erasure tickets for a concert in Newcastle on February 4 for £140.

She asked Mrs Whalley as the concert approached where the tickets were and claims she was also blocked by Mrs Whalley when the tickets didn't arrive and has had to go through her bank for a refund.

She was left scrapping around at the last minute after getting having to get a refund when tickets ordered through Mrs Whalley didn't arrive but she managed to get two returns from the box office.

George Scott from Aberdeen paid £400 for tickets to the Edinburgh concert and claims a week before the concert he was deleted off her Facebook page and has not been able to contact her.

He said he had also booked hotels for the concert and did fortunately manage to get tickets from the box office for the concert and is in the process of getting his money back.

Mrs Whalley said she is sympathetic but claims she is a victim too – and was let down by the person who should have supplied her with the tickets.

She said she first got involved in selling tickets in May, 2017 when she saw a post on Facebook, advertising tickets for Parklife festival.

Mrs Whalley says she was sold the tickets and over the coming weeks the seller also supplied tickets to her and her family for other events.

She claims he told her he had tickets available for other events, including Erasure.

So she says she decided she could make some money by selling them on.

She bought tickets for events including sports events and concerts from him to sell on - first on Viagogo and then direct through her own website.

At one point she says paid £2,000 for tickets to the Floyd Mayweather v Connor McGregor Las Vegas fight, which never arrived.

She claims that around half of the tickets she bought did come and were sold on. But she says many were not, leaving her out of pocket and customers without tickets.

She says that when tickets failed to come, rather than paying Mrs Whalley back, the man offered her alternative tickets, which she accepted and again sold.

Mrs Whalley says she bought tickets for herself, her husband and friends to go to the World Darts Championships in London in December and the day before the tickets had not come.

She says she travelled with her husband to confront the man and the following day the £400 she had paid appeared in her bank account.

Mrs Whalley claims she then reported him to Action Fraud and instructed a solicitor to try to recover the £12,700 she is still owed.

She said customers bought tickets through her website to see the band Erasure this month and she did not know if the tickets had arrived.

People who have not received tickets have claimed their money back through PayPal or their bank.

Mrs Whalley has promised to pay anyone who does not get their tickets back.

She said: "I did not know whether the day would come and he would then come through with the tickets.

“I could not give them people a refund because it has always been on the last minute with the tickets.

"I have given these people their money back. I am still outstanding £13,000.

“Hand on heart they should get their money back. I have never scammed anybody.

"I have had to take loans out to pay people back. He has got all the money, I have no money."

Responding to allegations that she blocked people on Facebook when they asked where the tickets were, Mrs Whalley said she never blocked anyone, but admitted she did ignore them because she was receiving abuse.

Mrs Whalley said: "I have been scammed and I am hand on heart trying to do my very best to pay everyone back.

"I do sympathise with each and everyone one of them. I would like to get my £13,000."

Action Fraud confirmed it received Mrs Whalley's report on December 29 and it is being assessed by the City of London's Police's National Fraud Intelligence Bureau.

It also confirmed two reports made by people allegedly over tickets sold by Mrs Whalley.