When Jennifer Wheeler surprised her aunt with a ticket to see Garth Brooks at Sprint Center, she thought she had done everything right.
“I thought, I went to Sprint Center’s page. and [it] had Garth and everything. Purchased tickets and I hit that and the page that it took me to, I thought I was still on Sprint Center’s web page,” said Wheeler of Tonganoxie, Kansas.
Wheeler says she has caught a show every time Brooks has played in Kansas City, dating back to the moment she was hooked at his free performance in 1992 at the Wyandotte County Fair.
“The minute I heard him sing, I’ve never had a performer touch me, touch my soul the way that he did. I’ve bought every CD,” said Wheeler. “He’s such a good man. Anytime there’s been a disaster around he’s there doing benefit concerts not making any money, donating that to the people in need.”
After what happened when she showed up for the second show Friday night during Brooks’ 7-sold out show stint in Kansas City this year, she isn’t so certain she bought tickets through Sprint Center.
After working enough overtime to buy the tickets for more than $400, Wheeler and her aunt went through security and had her tickets scanned.
“[They] said ‘ladies enjoy the show,’” Wheeler said.
After buying some new Garth Brooks merchandise, they headed to their seats in section 102, where a surprise awaited.
“Two people are sitting in my seats. I wasn't angry with them because then it was like, ‘Oh no. Something’s happened,’” said Wheeler.
Wheeler said their tickets also looked legitimate so she went to an usher with the problem. She says the usher instructed Wheeler to head to the box office. A short time later, Wheeler’s tickets had “VOID” written on them and she was asked to leave on her own, or she would be escorted out of the building.
“The box office gentleman, he even asked me ‘How did you make it through the door?’ I said ‘Just like everybody else that’s here,’” said Wheeler.
Sprint Center’s Response
Sprint Center spokesperson Shani Tate says there are no links to third party ticket sellers on Sprint Center’s website, all tickets cost are face value, and it is the arena’s policy that the first person scanned and seated with a legitimate ticket is the person that stays.
Statement from Sprint Center:
Sprint Center recommends that all guests and fans double check their browser URL when purchasing tickets to ensure they are actually on either sprintcenter.com or axs.com to purchase tickets directly from the venue.
Unfortunately, in this situation and similar instances, fans google the venue and/or artist and land on misleading websites where they complete transactions often times for many times the face value of the tickets.
Possible Explanations
Though the exact cause of Wheeler’s problem has not yet been pinpointed, there are some possible explanations.
- The original purchaser of the tickets double-sold them to third party sellers.
- One of the third party sellers of the original purchaser’s tickets did not sell the right seat numbers to Wheeler or the others sitting in her seats.
Regardless of circumstance, Wheeler says the situation is exactly why she was afraid to buy tickets online in the first place.
“I spent $80 on souvenirs that now is a constant reminder,” said Wheeler.
“How does someone who doesn't purchase online, really know? I’m not an online shopper. I'm a very old school kind of person I guess. I just wanted to collapse because it was just, I could not believe this happened to me. I hear it happened to [others] I guess it was just my unfortunate time. It’s just very disheartening and devastating”
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