Championship Tennis Tours

I reviewed the email threads once again, and it's all the same stuff.  He was unhappy that he overpaid for his seats despite knowing (based on the fact that he signed his booking form) that we're a company operating as a broker in the secondary market, a "MARKET" that fluctuates.  We lay all this out in our very clear terms and conditions, (this price element being the very first term) that clients must sign off on BEFORE we charge them.  In 99.9% of the cases people get it.  They realize we're not the US Open, not the official site, and that tickets will possibly be more than the face value. They also realize that when they buy from any of the resale platforms such as [redacted] Exchange, etc..the company is only acting as a broker, and that the price today may not be the same price for that same ticket 5 months later.  We're securing tickets from our suppliers along the way and their prices are fluctuating.  I'm sure if the market doubled or tripled for his tickets he purchased he wouldn't be thrilled if we called him back to charge him more money because the market had gone up?????  The ticket market is a hyper competitive environment.  None of us operate in a vacuum.   Like the airline industry, you're not necessarily going to be getting a better deal JUST because you bought the ticket a few months prior. Mr. [redacted] never accepted that reality and as such, never received the answer he was looking for. As for the customer service he received, he was always dealt with professionally every step of the way.  We're not a large company, and we do our best to handle everyone with great care and attention.  He says that I laughed at him on the phone, that we're crooks, etc.. just makes it clear that Mr. [redacted] is not a reasonable person.  Sometimes there's no winning over certain people.  In our experience, in operating this business with clients all over the world for 30 years, these type of impossible to please clients often return at the end of the day when they realize that we offer excellent prices and they know that we will DELIVER what we SELL, which is exactly what we did with Mr. [redacted].

I would not recommend this company to anyone. I booked a tour with them for the Miami Open, and their bill included the hotel reservations. The day I was to leave for Miami, I had to go to the hospital for a medical emergency. Before I left home in the ambulance, I called the hotel and canceled my reservation. I knew they had to keep one night's fee because of the late notice, but they refunded the rest of it to Championship Tennis Tours. Since then, I have repeatedly tried to get the hotel refund from Championship Tennis Tours. Usually they have ignored my requests, although occasionally they've sent an email saying someone would "look into it". Since they've had over four months to "look into it" I assume they intend to keep the windfall from the hotel reservations.

We had 2 couples going to Wimbledon together and expected the same package as we paid the same price, but did not get the same package. We were told our tickets would be Delivered to us 10 days before our trip by [redacted] which didn't happen. Our first morning we had to search down 2 different places to pick up tickets before going to the Wimbledon grounds. Upon arrival at our hotel, the hotel did not have reservations under our names. Much confusion occurred until we said Championship Tennis Tours had reserved two king rooms for us and we worked with [redacted]. His name was on our reservations. How hard is it to register your clients name??? Every morning the four of us were greeted at breakfast as the [redacted]'s. There was no attention to details at all.

From the very beginning it was difficult to get in-touch with [redacted]. I have many tennis friends and I would never recommend Championship Tennis Tours.

To Whom it May Concern, Please find the attached tickets that were delivered to our client, [redacted]. He has confirmed receipt and that he successfully printed both tickets (see emails below). We do apologize for the tardy delivery of our clients tickets. Normal...

delivery time is approximately 1-2 weeks prior to their date of attendance. However, in our terms and conditions, we guarantee delivery 24 hours prior to date of attendance as sometimes there are delays from International suppliers that are beyond our control. Please let me know if you have any questions?Regards, [redacted]Championship Tennis Tours[redacted]Begin forwarded message:From: [redacted] <[redacted]>Subject: Re: Fwd: Your Championship Tennis Tours Order Inv [redacted]Date: May 30, 2014 2:47:00 PM MSTTo: [redacted] - Championship Tennis Tours <[redacted]>Reply-To: [redacted] <[redacted]>[redacted], I have received both your emails with both of my tickets attached. Thanks. I am in [redacted] now and cannot download them for printing. I will have to print them in Paris. I will inform you when I get them printed. [redacted]Begin forwarded message:From: [redacted] <[redacted]>Subject: Re: Fwd: Your Championship Tennis Tours Order Inv [redacted]Date: May 30, 2014 2:47:00 PM MSTTo: [redacted] - Championship Tennis Tours <[redacted]>Reply-To: [redacted] <[redacted]>[redacted], I have received both your emails with both of my tickets attached. Thanks. I am in [redacted] now and cannot download them for printing. I will have to print them in Paris. I will inform you when I get them printed. [redacted]Begin forwarded message:From: [redacted] <[redacted]>Subject: Re: Fwd: Your Championship Tennis Tours Order Inv [redacted]Date: May 31, 2014 11:31:49 PM MSTTo: [redacted] - Championship Tennis Tours <[redacted]>Reply-To: [redacted] <[redacted]>[redacted],I have downloaded and printed the tickets.[redacted]

I purchased tickets 3 tickets @195.00 per ticket for US Opens 2015, female finals. The total including their fees came to 567.00 and that included a $100.00 discount as well. When I received my tickets for the event, there were 3 tickets for 115.00, instead of $195.00. Championship Tennis Tours agent, told me the premium cost for high demand, resulted in a $240.00 change. I purchase the tickets in July,2015. They didn't send me any proof of the additional 240.00 difference, just by word of mouth. I will Never Purchase tickets again. Buyers Be Aware!

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

The company did ultimately provide the tickets I had purchased and offered a $200 discount towards a future purchase.  However, I take issue with Championship Tennis Tours' (hereafter CTT) assertation that they promise delivery 24 hours in advance.  The confirmation email I received when I ordered these tickets specifically indicated I would receive the tickets between 7 to 14 days prior to delivery.  I have reproduced it below.  I've attached below various email exchanges with the company which led me to believe I would receive my tickets at least one week prior to the event.  This is misleading.   This type of information (i.e. the possibility they won't receive tickets until 24 hours before the event) should be made clear to customers upfront! I would also like it noted the emails I sent to [redacted] dated May 22nd and [redacted] dated May 29th were never responded to.  Further, CTT did not live up to commitments made in their May 30th email from [redacted] and the on-line chat session on May 23rd...both of which I've reproduced below.

Best regards,

[redacted] 

 

From: [redacted]

Sent: May-22-14 12:48 PM

To: [redacted]; 'Championship Tennis Tours'

Cc: '[redacted]'; '[redacted]'

Subject: Your Championship Tennis Tours Order Inv [redacted]

 

Hello [redacted],

 

Do you know when our tickets will be issued?

 

Thanks,

 

From: Championship Tennis Tours [mailto:[redacted]]

Sent: May-30-14 7:02 PM

To: [redacted]

Subject: Re: 2014 [redacted] - Ticket Delivery Update

 

Hello [redacted],

You're welcome!

 

Regards,

 

Championship Tennis Tours

 

On Fri, May 30, 2014 at 3:18 PM, [redacted] <[redacted]>

wrote:

Thanks [redacted]...I appreciate your attention to this matter.

Sent from my iPhone

On 2014-05-30, at 6:04 PM, "Championship Tennis Tours" <[redacted]<mailto:[redacted]>> wrote:

Hello [redacted],

I have checked with our manager, [redacted], and he will be sending all your tickets

this weekend. We have a large volume of tickets going out in the next few days.

Please be sure to check your spam and junk mail to make sure it did not go into

those mail filters. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions once you

receive your tickets. Thank you.

Regards,

Championship Tennis Tours

[redacted]<mailto:[redacted]>

 

 

From: [redacted]

Sent: May-29-14 5:29 PM

To: '[redacted]'

Subject: Tennis Tickets Invoice [redacted]

 

I purchased tickets for the

[redacted] on your website and have yet to receive them.  I used your

on-line chat service last Friday (May 23rd) and got the response

I’ve reproduced below.

 

“CTT

Representative:Your tickets will be sent electronically to your email address

7-10 days prior to your date of attendance. We are sending out a good amount of

tickets next week. You can contact us by the end of next week and we will give

you an update on the delivery if you have not already received it.”

 

Today, I reached out again (as

suggested) and was advised the tickets would be sent 24 to 48 hours prior to

attendance...which is quite different than what I was told last week.  I’m

sure you can appreciate it is an expensive proposition to purchase these

tickets, pay for a flight and hotel.  It is certainly worrying that we

still don’t have our tickets in hand and the story is changing about when we

will receive them.   I would appreciate an explanation.

 

 

From: [redacted] [mailto:[redacted]]

Sent: March-19-14 2:02 PM

To: [redacted]

Cc: [redacted]

Subject: Your Championship Tennis Tours Order Inv [redacted]

 

Hello [redacted],

Thank you for

choosing Championship Tennis Tours for the 2014 [redacted]. Below you will

find your invoice with a $0.00 balance.

 

Shortly you

will receive another email from [redacted] where you will be able to

electronically sign and date your invoice; please complete this step as soon as

possible, as the link will expire within 48 hours.

 

All tickets

for the 2014 [redacted]

[redacted] are going to be ‘electronic tickets’

and we will transfer each ticket into the name of the person attending the

event. Please reply to

this email with the first and last name of each person attending the [redacted] for

the day(s) you have purchased. An original passport or

driver's license (copies will not be accepted) will be required at the gates of

[redacted] and MUST correlate with the name on the e-ticket.

The name

transfer can only be processed once. Therefore, once you have given us the

client names, we will not be able to make

any further changes. If you have purchased for multiple days, and there will be

different people attending each day, please note all the information in your

reply.

Thanks in

advance for your prompt reply, and tickets will begin to be sent out

approximately 1-2 weeks prior to the event via email. If you have any

questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at any time.

 

 

Regards,

Championship Tennis Tours

 

Regards,

This place is an absolute scam. I won't even call it a business because it is far from that.

Do your homework and read about this farce. Be ready for the lowest level of customer service possible and to overpay by hundreds if not thousands of Dollars.

I bought US Open '16 tickets back 8 months before the Open started. I overpaid by $200(I bought nose bleed tickets, can only imagine for the lower bowl tickets prices) and that is if I were to buy the inflated value tickets right now when the tournament just started yesterday... When I tried to speak with CTT about my issue, the President, Mike B[redacted], just laughed at me and said sorry better luck next time. AVOID this place.

They also just had their Revdex.com accreditation pulled on 8/18/16 for similar reasons!

I paid 3,823.20 USD (three thousand eight hundred and twenty three united states dollars) for 4 tickets for the semi-final and final events at [redacted] 2014. Considering the ticket face price (which I received in the last moment from Tennis Tours), this is about 7 times the price of ticket printed on the ticket itself. I do understand a healthy profit for a business but this is by all means far from it by any standards. My seats were several rows (but just several) below the top edge of the stadium which was not evident from the seating chart available at the website.
Additionally, I only got the tickets on the night before the event for the semi-finals after several emails and calls and having already arrived.
Moreover, receiving a note with an extensive debrief of how to lie to the officials at the gate (in a much more clear and direct manner than the small font on the back of the invoice) for somebody who travelled half of the world for this event is hardly a pleasant experience.
Here is an excerpt from the final note (not communicated at time of invoicing) -
"
The French Open has instituted a strong stance against the resale and purchase of tickets in the secondary or "black market" through non-official FFT agencies such as Championship Tennis Tours as well as other prominent ticket companies such as [redacted], [redacted], [redacted], [redacted] etc. It is CRITICAL therefore that if you're ever asked by a [redacted] official (such as a ticket taker, a customer service representative, or a stadium usher) that you don’t say that you purchased your tickets in the secondary market, but rather that you received them as a ‘gift’ from a friend of a friend, or a colleague from work (but not the person listed as "The Buyer" on the ticket, as they might want to know your relationship to that person). Keep in mind, a large percentage of people entering the French Open every day will have received their tickets, via a transfer as a gift or invitation from a friend, colleague, or relative, as the original ticket buyer is able to purchase multiple tickets on the same day and on different courts.
Ticket Takers at the entrance may likely be asking people casually as they come through the gates, "How did you obtain your tickets"? or "How much did you pay for your tickets"? In order to avoid any problems, which could include the potential confiscation of your tickets and harassment by [redacted] officials, we strongly advise you below what to say and not say if ever you're questioned.
What you SHOULD say.
1 “They were a gift or I was or we were invited” (by someone who knows the Original buyer on the ticket). How do you know this person who invited you? A friend of a friend arranged it through work, tennis club, etc.
What NOT to say to a [redacted] Official.
1. “I bought these tickets from Championship Tennis Tours” (we’re not an authorized FFT Agency)
2. “I bought these tickets online from an Agency”.
3. “I bought these tickets on [redacted]”.
We don't expect you to experience any problems assuming you follow these simple suggestions. We haven't had any problems to date. Again, most people entering [redacted] every day will have received their tickets like you via a transfer either as a gift or invitation from a friend, family member, colleague or some acquaintance, or had purchased through a non-official FFT (French Federation of Tennis) source in the secondary market . " end of quote.

To Whom it May Concern, 

Please find the copies of the emails below that were sent to our client confirming the delivery of all 6 tickets. I have also attached the [redacted] copies of the tickets. The client confirmed receipt of the tickets and we also included a promotional code for a...

$200 discount on future order. 

[redacted] - 1 ticket for June 6th and 8th

[redacted] - 1 ticket for June 6th and 8th

[redacted] - 1 ticket for June 6th and 8th (I can forward copies of these tickets separately as I was only allowed to attach 4 [redacted]'s)

We did experience some delays in receiving the tickets from our [redacted] suppliers. As per our terms and conditions, tickets are normally delivered at least 1 week prior to the first date of attendance. However, tickets are guaranteed to be delivered 24 hours prior to the date of attendance (I included the Ticket Delivery portion of the terms and conditions below). 

Let me know if you have any additional questions. 

Regards, 

CTT

8. TICKET DELIVERY.

Ticket delivery depends whether the  tickets are  traditional paper tickets or [redacted] that are delivered as a [redacted] to your email address provided.  Tickets are delivered in most cases a week before your first day of attendance at the tournament. If for reasons outside our power this is not feasible due to delays in ticket allocation by authorities and/or suppliers, your tickets will be left for pick up at one of our Tour hotels at least one day before your first day of attendance or if possible delivered to your hotel.   All tickets are guaranteed to be delivered at least one day before your first day of attendance at the event. Tickets sent by email will require that you confirm receipt of the tickets.

Begin forwarded message:

From: [redacted] <[redacted]>

Subject: Re: June 6th Ticket

Date: June 3, 2014 2:36:57 PM MST

To: [redacted] - Championship Tennis Tours <[redacted]>

Ok, thank you

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: [redacted] - Championship Tennis Tours <[redacted]>

Subject: June 6th Ticket

Date: June 3, 2014 2:33:38 PM MST

To: [redacted] <[redacted]>

[redacted], 

Please find the ticket for [redacted] attached for the June 6th. 

We do sincerely apologize for the delay in getting all tickets delivered. We would like to extend a $200 discount towards any future order through Championship Tennis Tours (promo code: [redacted])  

We hope you have a great time in [redacted] at the 2014 [redacted]!

Regards, 

[redacted] 

Championship Tennis Tours

[redacted]

I purchased tickets at a very high premium some 7 months before the 2015 French Open. As this was my first time purchasing thru an unofficial broker( I didn't realize the resale of tickets in France is apparently illegal), I specifically asked why I should be giving around $8,000, interest free, so far in advance. I also asked how were seats allocated within the category that I purchased. I was told that when you purchase within a certain category the better seat locations are determined by who purchased the earliest. I received seats at one of the least desirable locations within the category. I also met another customer of CTT in the stadium who bought after me and had much better seats. Upon contacting CTT afterwards, I was told this, among other things: they consider factors such as returning customers in determining location---totally contrary to what I was told to induce me to buy---first time buyers beware; I was also told by the management that I must have misunderstood and when I asked if they had recorded the conversations, they said no---I can see why.

This is a VERY sketchy organization. I was surprised that it received such a high rating here. In order to purchase Rolland G[redacted] tickets to the French Open through this organization, in the fine print it states that one is not to mention "Championship Tennis Tours" to the Rolland G[redacted] officials, but instead to state that the tickets were received from a friend, or else the tickets could be in jeopardy. We almost didn't notice this, and when we did were hesitant, but the reviews were good and friends had purchased tickets through Championship Tennis Tours before so we went ahead. Never again. We were hounded at the gates when the tickets didn't work, they could tell somehow that they had been purchased from an "unauthorized website" and the officials said that Championship Tennis Tours was creating a real problem for Rolland G[redacted].

hi, I have purchased us open tickets through this company. I have been charged 725 usd gor 2 tickets of one 85 usd and one 140 usd which add up to 225 usd. I flew 11 hours for this tournament and will be watching more or less a ping pong game having paid in the month of april and having received a T row ticket (4 rows before the last row). I regret having used the services of this company cause. had no idea about the prices of the tickets. I had thought that a reasonable service fee would be charged but I never thougth that I would be charged 500usd for purchasing 2 tickets worth 225usd. I called them to ask for better seats for the overprice I have been charged... the managers weren't friendly at all and they hung up on me during the call. I believe they tend to offer worse seats to the international clients hoping that they would be lazy to inform authorities during their stay. beware that you will be triple priced for the event tickets through this company which is not written explicitly during the purchase process. I will try to inform other platforms hoping to warn other people about the business model of this company.