BBC misled the public over ballot for 10,000 King Charles Coronation Concert tickets after insisting they would NOT be allocated on first-come-first serve basis, ad watchdog rules

• The ASA found BBC Studios breached two rules covering misleading advertising

The BBC and Ticketmaster misled the public over a ballot for King Charles’ Coronation concert tickets after advertising had reassured royal fans tickets would not be issued on a first-come-first-served basis, a watchdog has ruled. 

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) found that BBC Studios breached two rules of its code covering misleading advertising.

Potentially thousands of people were wrongly led to believe they had secured a place at the momentous event on May 7 at Windsor Castle due to a poorly worded email.

The ASA said they received 98 complaints from members of the public who were unable to claim tickets for the event.

An email from Ticketmaster on April 25 had the subject line ‘The Coronation Concert – Congratulations’. 

Text underneath read: ‘Congratulations, you have been successful in the ballot for a pair of standing tickets to The Coronation Concert, At Windsor Castle on Sunday 7 May 2023. Tickets in this supplementary round are being offered to a randomly selected group of ballot winners on a first come first served basis, so you will need to act quickly in claiming your tickets to ensure you secure them’.

People were told they had until midday on April 27 to claim their tickets. 

However, it turned out that those who received the email had not actually been successful in securing tickets, but had instead been selected to enter another round with an additional chance to get tickets on a first-come-first-served basis. 

The Coronation Concert held in the grounds of Windsor Castle on May 7 

Queen Camilla and King Charles pictured at the concert, along with Prince William and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murthy

Kate Middleton on her feet and clapping at the concert 

The ASA said a second paragraph sought to clarify that there was still another round and that people needed to act to get tickets, but ruled that it was not sufficient to override the impression created by the subject of the email and other text, therefore finding the ad was misleading. 

A page on the Ticketmaster website in February and a page on the BBC website in April had also stated tickets would not be issued on a first-come-first-served basis.

‘The 10,000 tickets are not being allocated on a first-come first-served basis, so there is as much chance of being selected if an application is made on the 10th February 2023 as on the 28th February 2023’.

A response to a frequently asked question on the BBC site also reiterated ‘tickets will not be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.’ 

Read more: Royal fans tell how they are out of pocket on hotels after misleading agency left them thinking they had secured Coronation concert tickets

Again, a page on the BBC website titled ‘ballot rules’ in February had echoed the same message.  

The BBC told MailOnline: ‘Although there was never any intention to mislead, we accept the ASA’s ruling. 

‘Following two fully compliant ballots, a small number of unclaimed tickets were offered on a first come first served basis to unsuccessful ballot entrants. 

‘We also reiterate our apology for a poorly worded email, which implied applicants had already won tickets for The Coronation Concert. 

‘We have taken steps to ensure neither situation is repeated and can confirm that no successful ballot entrant from the first two rounds was denied the opportunity to attend the event.’

BBC Studios said people were invited to enter a ballot for one of 5,000 pairs of tickets for the Coronation Concert between February 10-28, 2023. On March 13, 5,000 successful entries were drawn at random and winners were contacted and asked to accept the pair of tickets within 14 days. Two follow up reminders were sent to those who didn’t respond.

Disappointed entrants tweeted about the saga back in April 

On April 3, a second ballot was then drawn up for unclaimed tickets. But following the first two ballots there were still tickets that remained unallocated so the BBC decided to offer remaining tickets to a third group. 

According to the ASA ruling, the BBC said that ‘due to the short timeframe before the event, tickets would be allocated on a first-come first-served basis and that Ticketmaster emailed further entrants on April 25 to claim the remaining tickets. 

‘They said that the email was sent by Ticketmaster on behalf of BBC Studios with wording provided by BBC Studios.

‘BBC Studios accepted the email was not well-worded, since it congratulated the recipient twice, before explaining that tickets in this supplementary round were being offered on a first-come first-served basis. They said that an apology was issued on the BBC Complaints website about the email, and that they apologised to those who contacted BBC Studios directly.’

MailOnline also contacted Ticketmaster for comment.  

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