VIC Ticketek arbitrary seat allocation

[SRW]

This is something that has bothered me for a long time. Ticketek uses a system to allocate seats at events according to their own rankings of which seats are better. It seems to basically fill from the front back. This poses difficulties for me as the seats prefer are further back. On Monday I spent an hour rejecting seats I didn't want and the system never offered me anything in my preferred range.

I wonder if this is a fair, reasonable or legal way to operate. Imagine if I went to a sandwich shop and ordered a cheese sandwich and they insisted that I had to take tuna because according to their system tuna is better. It just doesn't work.

 

[Rob Legat - SBPL]

But you also can't dictate what a business is willing to offer you (generally speaking). The law and regulators have interfered with that from time to time, but not in the world of event seating as far as I'm aware.

The basics of contract are that you have three 'stages' of contract: the 'invitation to treat', the 'offer' and the 'acceptance'. Whichever way you slice it, Ticketek is saying, "I'm willing to deal with you for a seat in a certain section, but not a particular seat." That contract can either be accepted or not. Ticketek, by their conduct, is not willing to accept an offer to purchase a ticket for a particular seat.