Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers

The Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR), created in 1997, is a United Kingdom body providing self-regulation for the live event ticket sales industry. Its aim is to ensure consumer confidence in the sale of event tickets via member compliance with a code of practice.

Code of practice[edit]

The code of practice covers all aspects of ticket retailing however it can be summarised in five main tenets:^[1]

Provide clear pricing information for tickets in line with the requirements of the STAR Code.
Handle bookings politely and courteously, giving the highest standards of professional service.
Refund at least the face value of the ticket if an event is cancelled and the event organiser enables and authorises refunds.
Highlight any terms and conditions, including transferability, cancellation and viewing restrictions.
To provide an Alternative Dispute Resolution service for customers who have bought from STAR members.

The STAR Administration[edit]

The administration of STAR is operated by a Council, which is elected by STAR members, and led by a Chairperson. Day-to-day operations are managed and carried out by STAR’s Chief Executive and External Relations professionals, who ensure the operation of the Code of Practice, handle all dispute resolution inquiries as well as provide information and advice around best practices for safe ticket buying. STAR is funded by annual contributions from its membership.

Breach of the Code of Practice[edit]

If a member breaches the Code of Practice, a sub-committee examines the breach and disciplines the member if necessary and depending on the seriousness of the infringement. The most serious cases could lead to expulsion from the STAR membership.

The sub-committee includes members of the STAR Council, independent professionals and the Chair. Anyone with a business interest in the case at hand is not eligible to vote on anything related to that case.

Alternative Dispute Resolution[edit]

The Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR) works to help resolve disputes between its members and ticket buyers and is approved by Government under the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Competent Authorities and Information) Regulations 2015. The competent authority for this approval and that audits STAR’s ADR service is the Chartered Trading Standards Institute. ADR is available for customers who have an unresolved problem following their purchase from a STAR member.

A dispute resolution request can be submitted by either a customer or by a STAR member. Conciliation then takes place through the STAR office in an effort to reach a satisfactory resolution.

OFT report[edit]

In June 2004 the Office of Fair Trading announced it would be carrying out a fact-finding study into ticket agents for entertainment and sporting events in the UK. The report was published in January 2005 and whilst it concluded that "most consumers were happy with their last ticket purchase" it did recommend that "the Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers produce model terms for its members to use in their consumer contacts".^[2] STAR subsequently published model terms in July 2009.

Full Members of S.T.A.R.^[3][edit]

ACC Liverpool
Adelphi Theatre
AKA
Albemarle of London Ltd
Aldwych Theatre
Almeida Theatre
alt-tickets (DHP Family Ltd)
Ambassadors Theatre
Apollo Theatre
Apollo Victoria
Arts Club Liverpool
ATG Tickets
Audience View
AXS
Aylesbury Waterside Theatre
Beautiful Tickets
Beck Theatre
Best of Theatre (London Box Office)
Big Green Coach Planet Festival
Booking Protect Ltd
Box Office
Bridge Theatre
Brighton Centre
Bristol Hippodrome (ATG)
Bristol Old Vic
Cambridge Theatre
Cameron Mackintosh Limited
CheapTheatreTickets.com
Chichester Festival Theatre
Churchill Theatre
City Varieties Music Hall
Covent Garden Box Office
Crewe Lyceum
Criterion Theatre
Delfont Mackintosh Theatres
DICE FM
Donmar Warehouse
Duchess Theatre
Duke of York’s Theatre
Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society
Edinburgh Playhouse
Empire Theatre
Encore Tickets Ltd
English National Opera London Coliseum
Eventim UK Ltd
Family Tickets Ltd
Fever
Fortune Theatre
fromtheboxoffice.com
G Live
Garrick Theatre
Gielgud Theatre
Gigantic Tickets Limited
Gigs and Tours
Grand Opera House
Group Line (part of ATG)
Harold Pinter Theatre
Her Majesty’s Theatre
HQ Theatres Ltd
Hyde Park Picture House
JM Marketing Limited
Kaboodle Solutions Ltd
Kilimanjaro Live Ltd
King’s Theatre
KX Tickets
Leas Cliff Hall
Leeds Grand Theatre
Leicester Square Box Office
Line Up
Live Nation
London Box Office (Best of Theatre)
London Coliseum English National Opera
London Palladium
London Theatre
London Theatre Direct
lovetheatre.com (part of The Ticket Machine Group)
LW Theatres
Lyceum Theatre
Lyric Hammersmith
Lyric Theatre
Mamma Mia! The Party
M&S Bank Arena
Merlinsoft Ltd
Milton Keynes Theatre
Motorpoint Arena Cardiff
Motorpoint Arena Nottingham
Motorsport Tickets
Music Plus Sport Limited
National Arenas Association
National Theatre
Nederlander Dominion Limited
New Alexandra Theatre (ATG)
New London Theatre
New Theatre (ATG)
New Theatre Royal Lincoln
New Victoria Theatre (ATG)
New Wimbledon Theatre and Studio (ATG)
Nimax Theatres
Noel Coward Theatre
Novello Theatre
Nuffield Southampton Theatres
O2 Academy, Academy 2 and Academy 3 Birmingham
O2 Academy, Academy 2 and The Scholar Leicester
O2 Academy and Academy 2 Bristol
O2 Academy and Academy 2 Glasgow
O2 Academy and Academy 2 Islington
O2 Academy and Academy 2 Liverpool
O2 Academy and Academy 2 Newcastle
O2 Academy and Academy 2 Oxford
O2 Academy and Academy 2 Sheffield
O2 Academy and Academy 2 Leeds
O2 Academy and Academy 2 Bournemouth
O2 Academy and Academy 2 Brixton
O2 Apollo Manchester
O2 Forum Kentish Town
O2 Guildhall Southampton
O2 Institute Birmingham
O2 Ritz Manchester
O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
O2 Victoria Warehouse Manchester
Official London Theatre
Opera House Manchester
Opera North
Orchard Theatre
Oxford Playhouse
Palace Theatre
Phoenix Theatre
Piccadilly Theatre
Playhouse Theatre
Prince Edward Theatre
Prince of Wales Theatre
Princess Theatre
Quaytickets
Queens Theatre
Red61
Regent Theatre
Resorts World Arena
Richmond Theatre
Royal Albert Hall
Royal Opera House
Royal Shakespeare Company
Sadlers Wells
Santa Pod Raceway
Savoy Theatre
Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre
Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre SECC (Ovo Hydro)
SeatGeek
Seat Plan
See Tickets
Shaftesbury Theatre
Sheffield City Hall
Shows in London
SIV
SJM Concerts Ltd
Society of London Theatre
Sound Travel Group Ltd
Southend Theatres
Spektrix Ltd
Squire Patton Boggs UK LLP
St Martin’s Theatre
Stephen Joseph Theatre
Stockton Globe
Sunderland Empire
Tessitura Network
The FA
The Lowry Lyric Quays and Studio Theatres
The Old Vic Theatre
The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo
The Rugby Football Union
The SSE Arena Wembley
The Ticket Factory
The Ticket Store
Theatre Royal Brighton
Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Theatre Royal Glasgow
Theatrebookings.com (part of Leicester Square Box Office)
Theatre Tickets Direct Ltd (see also www.uktheatretickets.co.uk)
Theatreland Ltd
theatremonkey.com
theatretickets.london
Ticket Quarter
Ticket Text Limited
TicketCo UK Ltd
Ticketek UK Ltd
Ticketing Business Forum
Ticketing Professionals Conference
Ticketline
Ticketmaster Sport
Ticketmaster UK Ltd
TicketPlan Limited
Tickets Scotland
TicketSource
Ticketswap UK Ltd
TicketWeb (UK) Ltd
Tix Ticketing
Tixel UK Ltd
TixTrack
TKTS
TodayTix Ltd
Tungate Group
Twickenham Stadium
Twickets Ltd
TYG Limited
UK Theatre
Universe
Utilita Arena, Birmingham
Utilita Arena Sheffield
Vaudeville Theatre
Victoria Hall
Victoria Palace
Vivaticket Ltd
Walt Disney Theatrical UK Ltd
Watford Palace Theatre
WeGotTickets
Wembley Stadium
White Rock Theatre
www.uktheatretickets.co.uk (see also Theatre Tickets Direct)
Wycombe Swan
Wyndhams Theatre
Wyvern Theatre and Swindon Arts Centre
York Theatre Royal

Ticket Fraud Awareness[edit]

STAR has collaborated with Action Fraud, the National Fraud and Cyber Crime Reporting Centre (part of the City of London Police) to raise awareness around ticket fraud and provide best practices for customers to buy event tickets safely and with confidence.

The most recent campaign was carried out in April 2022, encouraging consumers to purchase their tickets from STAR members to ensure they are buying from a legitimate source.

STAR is actively promoting safe ticket buying and provides advice on its website to prevent consumers from becoming victims of ticket fraud.

Additionally, an independent review of consumer protection measures in ticketing was published by the UK Government in May 2016. This review took place as a requirement of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and was conducted by Michael Waterson, an economics professor at Warwick University.

References[edit]

^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-07-30. Retrieved 2009-11-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) STAR Code of Practice
^ "The Office of Fair Trading: Ticket agents". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-08-04. OFT Tickets Agents Market Study 26 January 2005
^ "STAR - All Members". www.star.org.uk. Retrieved 2015-10-06.

External links[edit]

[1] "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-07-30. Retrieved 2009-11-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) STAR Code of Practice

[2] "The Office of Fair Trading: Ticket agents". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-08-04. OFT Tickets Agents Market Study 26 January 2005

[3] "STAR - All Members". www.star.org.uk. Retrieved 2015-10-06.

[1]

[2]

[3]