It's a real concern for the ticket buying public that there are so many on line ticket agencies that have failed to provide the promised service to the customers it may have attracted, there have been numerous occasions where customers have not received their tickets nor have they been able to have a refund for the tickets they purchased on various websites, as soon as one gets shut down another seems to be ready and waiting to take it's place.  There are a number of touts out there who won't think twice about scamming

Wherever possible we try and warn people where there is a serious danger that they may not get a decent service from a ticket agency or when an agency is advertising tickets that don't exist.

There are a number of articles about various ticket touts and we have a few links for you below:

The Daily Mirror has named Rangos as Britain's most prolific ticket tout - the article can be found here

Michael Rangos has several previous convictions and the BBC says, in a 2005 report that - " Getmetickets.net, which bills itself as the UK's largest independent ticket agency, has appeared on the BBC's Watchdog twice and is about to be prosecuted by trading standards officers for a third time" link to article here

The BBC again reported on Rangos in 2006 when getmetickets.net was shut down by the government - link to article here

The Guardian also reported on getmetickets.com - link to article here and another one here

In May 2006 the Guardian again ran an article on Get Me Tickets.net and Get Me Tickets.com, this time when the company were officially wound up, the Guardian says that "The judge said the company's managing director, Michael Rangos, who employed more than 20 people at his London office, had told him he was not worried by the bad publicity. "He maintained that, even where the company had been shown in a most unfavourable light by the press or in broadcasting media, the immediate consequence was an increase in the company's sales." - full article here

In March 2007 the Guardian again reported on ticket touts and again Michael Rangos features in the item - article here

The Guardian again looked at the issue when more on line ticket outlets were shut down and they say "The government has stepped in to shut down an online ticket agency featured in Guardian Money 11 months ago, amid claims that large numbers of music fans have been left out of pocket." the Guardian went on to say "Some will be wondering whether these new sites are anything to do with Michael Rangos, the former boss of Getmetickets, which was shut down by the government two years ago after being branded a rip-off by, among others, Sir Cliff Richard. Last March, Guardian Money ran an article on the collapse of Ticket Tout, in which we revealed that its website was similar to that of London Ticket Market, which was then still up and running. We discovered the mobile phone number given as the "administrative contact" for London Ticket Market belonged to Rangos - though he told us at the time that he had no links with the company. London Ticket Market and the new site both share a Cyprus connection."

In March this year the Guardian again looked at the issue of ticket touting and again the name Michael Rangos appeared in the article "One notorious tout, Michael Rangos, operated at least three ticketing companies, including the much reviled Get Me Tickets, which was fined several times after actions brought by trading standards officials before being put into compulsory liquidation in 2006. Last month londonticketmarket.co.uk and its sister company, londonticketshop.co.uk, both based in Cyprus and linked to Rangos, went into liquidation, leaving Led Zeppelin fans who paid thousands of pounds for tickets they never received fuming.

This time last year another company linked to Rangos, Ticket Tout, was placed in administration with debts of £1.5m and thousands of disgruntled customers were left without tickets for Elton John and Beyoncé gigs. Rangos appears to have little remorse for the impact his actions have had. 'I think it's preposterous to try to block the freedom of choice... supply and demand should only ever determine the price of any commodity,' he said shortly before Get Me Tickets collapsed.

In March 2008 again the Guardian reported on ticket touts, only this time it was reported that Michael Rangos was named by the judge hearing the case against the four on line ticket firms forcibly shut down - London Ticket Shop Limited, based in south-west London; London Ticket Shop Szolgaltato Es Kereskedelmi KFT, based in Hungary; Cyprus-based MLT Services Limited; and Ticketout Limited, which operated in central London - have been wound up in the high court following an official probe. The Guardian says "Some Guardian Money readers will be aware that Rangos has a lot of form in this area. His online ticket company Getmetickets was shut down by the government two years ago after it was found to be charging way over the odds for concert and theatre tickets it did not have. On BBC1's Watchdog programme in late 2005, Sir Cliff Richard memorably said of Rangos: "I think that he's being manipulative. I think he's extortionate and I think he's a very mean man doing this to people." Then there was Ticket Tout, which collapsed a year ago. Well over 6,000 music fans lost out to the tune of £1.7m as a result of its demise. Many had forked out hundreds of pounds to see acts such as Muse and Arctic Monkeys. Both Ticket Tout and Rangos's Ticketout Limited shared the same central London address; the Insolvency Service says Ticketout Limited was set up to provide a bank account for Ticket Tout, "which had its bank facilities withdrawn" ...As a result of the companies' activities, there had been a considerable number of complaints from members of the public concerning the failure to receive tickets they had paid for in advance," says the Insolvency Service. "The court heard that Michael Rangos was behind the operation of the four companies wound up, although he attempted to conceal this involvement." The investigation found tickets had been sold which the firms did not possess - and, in some cases, which did not even exist. The judge, registrar John Simmonds, said he had read the evidence "and was very satisfied that there had been a conspiracy to defraud the public and benefit the particular 'gentleman' behind the companies". Read the full article here

In 2007 tickettout.com was shut down owing £2m and evidence emerged that the same director was behind the site - link to the Guardian article here

The Daily Mirror also has a number of articles about Michael Rangos - articles are here

The is money has also reported on Rangos here

More articles can be found below

It's also been discussed in Westminster and Michael Rangos specifically named - this can be accessed in the Hanson Report

News Distribution report from 2006

Don't run away with the idea that Rangos is the only one out there - there are a number of people involved in ticket touting and the proliferation of scam sites, it really is a case of buyer beware, indeed so fragile is the secondary ticket market that we at safeconcerts  recommend that you only buy tickets from primary ticket outlets, we only affilliate with primary ticket outlets because of the current state of the ticket market.