21 August 2008
Paying for concert and sporting events tickets by credit card means consumers are likely to be protected from scammers, the Trading Standards Institute has pointed out. Spokesman Tony Northcott made his comments following a recent high profile scam which saw sports fans sold fake tickets to the Beijing Olympics. He said that when purchasing items such as tickets there are definite benefits to using credit cards rather than debit cards. "If you pay by debit card you definitely won't get your money back but, if you pay by credit card you'll probably be able to claim it back from your credit card company," he explained. Consumers are protected under the Consumer Credit Act, which allows them to claim back from their bank or credit card provider losses on transactions between £100 and £30,000. Debit card losses will not be re-paid. Mr Northcott said ticket buyers can therefore "help themselves" by using credit cards.