Warnings for buying concert tickets

I bought some George Michael tickets back in May on ebay and I had a lot of problems with the transaction. I have investigated it and worked out some worrying things. Below is my experience as a warning for others.Many sellers these days are buying tickets right at day of issue or close to it and selling almost immediately. I have read that actually these listings are against the ebay rules as PRE-SALE rules say that the seller cannot sell something that cannot be despatched within 30 daysWHY ARE EBAY ALLOWING THESE LISTING TO GO ON?If the tickets you want to buy will not be sent out for at least 2 months then it has the following risk to you.YOU ARE NOT COVERED BY PAY PAL OR EBAY if the transaction goes wrong.WHY?PAY PAL protection is a waste of time as it will be invalid, as it lasts 45 days from the transaction date. This will long since past when you find out if there is a problem.eBay feedback can only be left upto 2 months afterwards.The ITEM NOT RECIEVED procedure will not be valid either as this is limited to 60 days. When I emailed ebay past this time they just said they could not help, just contact the police.REMEMBER that even if the seller is a powerseller with pay pal protection you will not be covered.You have been warned. Make sure if you are buying tickets they will be posted to you within 30 days, and that the seller has an ebay rating of at least 200 with 98% positive, and that they have the two PAY PAL logos next to their listing.I think ebay should add to ticket listings the date the seller will despatch (approx) that way they could restrict tickets to being sold within the protection time (and actually enforce their own rule about PRE-SALE)Here is my experienceADDED ON THE 7th SEPTEMBERIt looks like my worst fears are bing confirmed. My seller oohbaby!!has just gone unregistered and a couple of other buyers have contacted me to say tickets they bought from her for Robbie Williams have not turned up. Her name is Sue Wolsgrove from Portsmouth.There is still a chance I could get my tickets and she is not a fraudster but I am increasingly worried. Please email me if you have bought anything from her and not had it.ADDED ON THE 14th September15 people have contacted me who have bought tickets for either Robbie Williams or George Michael from this seller and none of them have recieved their tickets. eBay don't even respond to my emails other than with a computer generated reponse. We are therefore contacting the police about this. An Officer called Colin Phipps is dealing with it at Hampshire Police. If you email me (click on my user name, and then Contact Member), I can pass your email to a guy called Andy who is co-ordinating all of us who have lost out. I have tried calling all the contact numbers she gave me, and the one she had registered with ebay, and all of them don't work.Added 16th SeptemberThere could be hope. Just had an email from Susie from her hotmail email address. She says she doesn't have a computer anymore and had to come to an internet cafe to log on. I have emailed her back saying she should contact everyone she has sold tickets to, if they are not going to get them, and give them their money back, or at least explain what is happening. Maybe things will turn out ok after all. An email is not the money though so I am not holding my breath.Added 24th SeptemberSusie is now refunding people that email or send her a copy of the payment made to her. I will never know whether she intended to walk away with the money. The important thing is she is now giving it back, so I have to assume she was unlucky herself. She has changed her email address so email me for her new address. ebay won't allow email addresses to be shown in guides.Added on the 28th SeptemberI have now had my money back in full. I can't help but think that the police involvement and so many other buyers getting together has helped, so thanks to everyone who helped out, and I hope everyone else gets their money back.Added on the 10th April 2007I had a letter recently from the Police to say that the person who eventually gave me my money back, but not everyones had been arrested, and released on bail. I believe they work for the Ministry of Defense, so that will be the end of their career. While I have not lost out as a result of this scam many others have, and this arrest restore faith in the Policing system, and to an extent ebay, as onlin fraud appears harder to escape from.Added on the 5th Feb 2009I recieved an email claiming to be from Sue Wolsgrave's daughter. I have quoted her email below"RE...Warnings for buying concert ticketsI would appreciate you updating the above review as my mother was released without any charge of wrong doing after supplying the police with all evidence required. I look forward to your reply.Patsy"I am not removing the review as it gives a full and frank account of what happened, and shows that Sue was after investigation by the police found innocent, and returned much of the money. It remains an important lesson for anyone buying tickets via ebay, and the risk they face if they buy tickets and will not recieve them from the seller within the time insured by Pay Pal - 45 days.The review has been read by over thousands of people, and it rated as usefulI hope you have found this useful, and if you have any questions please email me (you can click on my user name and it brings up the option to contact me). It would be great if you could click the voting button below to say if you found it useful or not, so other users know if it is worth reading. Cheers Darryl