Kiwi Elton John fans have taken to social media to express their outrage after the New Zealand leg of his farewell tour sold out at break-neck speed.
Tickets for all three of his Feburary 2020 shows in Aotearoa were snapped up on Tuesday morning shortly after the presale began at 9am - and some are already being onsold at a profit.
- Outrage as Celine Dion tickets 'sell out instantly'
- Elton John to play three shows in New Zealand on farewell tour
Many fans of the 'Benny and the Jets' hitmaker claimed their presale promotional codes didn't work, or that they were pushed out of the queue while waiting to buy tickets online.
According to the NZ Herald, 23,000 tickets for John's Napier Mission Estate show sold out within an hour of going on sale.
Tickets to all three shows are already being sold on notorious scalper website Viagogo, which is being sued by New Zealand's Commerce Commission.
Viagogo contacted Newshub to insist "it is perfectly legal to resell a ticket".
Mission Estate's CEO Peter Holley told the Herald no complaints had been laid about the ticket-buying system, but that their IT department would be looking into it.
"What the hell is going on?" one fan wrote on Facebook.
"Absolute shambles of a system. What a joke," said another.
One fan took to Twitter to ask Ticketmaster NZ "did all the Elton John fans surprise u this morning when we tried to buy tickets at the stated 9am time?".
A disenchanted Newshub reporter who doesn't want to be named said they also missed out despite being logged in, ready and waiting to purchase presale tickets the moment they were released.
"I had the countdown going for six minutes, too scared to click on any other tabs, had my credit card details and presale code ready to go," they said.
"It was loading and I was like: 'here we go!' and then straight into the screen that said 'tickets unavailable'."
"I was shocked and confused - it was for my mum's birthday present. I was sitting there at the exact time that they told us, what more could I have done?"
- Adele Auckland concert: Wheelchair-bound fan 'tricked' by scalping website
- Elton John admits to loving Eminem's Machine Gun Kelly diss track
Elton John's Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour is set to be a lengthy one, taking place over three years with an estimated 300 concerts - but it will be his last.
"I don't want to go out with a whimper. I want to go out with a bang," he said at a press conference last year.
Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin will host John first on February 4, before he plays at Mission Estate in Napier on February 8, and Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland on February 9.
Newshub.
