'We Buy Used Ticket' Counters in Orlando

[arthursiew]

I heard a lot about these people who buy used tickets (partially or completely used) tickets that have not expired yet. I decided to check craigslist out and found a person who was willing to buy my completely used tickets for $50 each. According to him, he said he was going to use them to upgrade them to Annual Pass. Is this even a possible? Or are they going to use these to scam people? Has anybody sold their tickets to a 'We buy used ticket' business or an individual?

 

[vicki_c]

Partially used tickets are not transferable, it's actually against Florida law.

If your completely used up tickets were first used more than 14 days ago (or partially used tickets) they are no longer upgradeable, no matter what kind of tickets they were - expiring or non-expiring.

Add to that that they are tied to your finger scan, so anyone trying to use them probably would not be able to.

I would not want to be a party to potentially ruining someone else's vacation.

 

[arthursiew]

Partially used tickets are not transferable, it's actually against Florida law.

If your completely used up tickets were first used more than 14 days ago (or partially used tickets) they are no longer upgradeable, no matter what kind of tickets they were - expiring or non-expiring.

Add to that that they are tied to your finger scan, so anyone trying to use them probably would not be able to.

I would not want to be a party to potentially ruining someone else's vacation.

There are some businesses who just buy them for other purposes? Is it legal to sell the tickets to them when they are the ones who want to buy it from me?

 

[Cheshire Figment]

There was an article in The Orlando Sentinel a few days ago about four people in KIssimmee being arrested for selling partially used Disney tickets.

 

[MissAndrea]

I had never heard of this before we were in Orlando in May. We were getting gas and getting ready to leave town and some lady leaving the gas station started asking me questions. Were we heading to Disney or had already been there? Did we go every single day? My mom and grandma ended up not going for one day so I told her that. She offered me $20 per ticket right then and there. I mentioned the finger scan and she told me it wasn't true. We were leaving town and I could have cared less if it didn't work for her, so I took her money and went in to use the bathroom. On the way out I saw a sign about the gas station buying used tickets. Even if she turned around and sold the tickets to that place for $50 a pc, I didn't care because I wouldn't have done it if she hadn't offered me money right there. I checked to make sure they weren't counterfit, but again, the tickets were worthless to us. I didn't know it was illegal!

 

[vicki_c]

Here's an article from April from Fox News in Orlando:
http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/attractions/042210cops-crack-down-on-used-theme-park-ticket-sales

Here's a clip from the article:

The street corner merchants buy used multi-day tickets from tourists for anywhere between $20 and $50 a ticket. Easy cash for the unsuspecting vacationer.

The merchants then apply chemicals to the used tickets. “They will remove the signature and they will remove the printed name,” says Massaro.

They then turn around and sell it discounted to a new tourist, who can use the remaining days on it.

Often, the merchants tell the tourists to stop at the park ticket booth and load up additional days on that same ticket. It's very cheap to add days to a multi-day ticket and the parks won't blink at it.

“Because there really isn't anything unusual about you coming here on vacation with your family and deciding 'I'm going to stay another seven days,'” adds Massaro.

That ticket then gets brought back to the corner store, the tourist gets paid some cash for his hard work, and the booth turns around and sells those cheap days at a substantial profit.

Over and over again. Each ticket, logged carefully in notebooks.

But sometimes, the tourist winds up with a multi-day ticket with no days on it, and no agreement to add more days to it.



“If they get to the turnstile with a ticket that has no days left on it, you've got a family out of $500 or so, depending on what they bought the tickets for. None of these theme parks will reimburse them because they did not purchase these tickets at a legitimate theme park booth,” says Massaro.

And the tourist, who just got suckered, will not likely go back to the bad guys for help.

“Mostly they just walk away because they don’t want to go back and do the confrontation,” submits Massaro.

Were you at a Shell station on I-Drive - I think that's where the woman in the article was arrested? But it's all over the major driving corridors around the parks in Orlando.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

There are certain questons we can ask, either at the turnstiles or a booth, which will allow us to know if you are the legal holder of a ticket. And there is a wide range of actions which can be taken, up to getting Security involved.

But the basic thing is if you are not the legal ticket holder you will have a hard time getting through a gate using a resold ticket. And there is no way you can look at a ticket and see what entitlements are actually still unused on it. It actually takes a card reader hooked to the Automatefd Ticketing System.

 

[MissAndrea]

Interesting news story! Now I feel bad. It must have been a cake walk with my mom and grandma's ticket because their names weren't on them anywhere. At least I'll know this for the future! However, I never plan on having unused days myself!

 

[leebee]

The chemicals remove the signature and printed name, but I still don't understand how they get around the finger scan

 

[Ava]

The chemicals remove the signature and printed name, but I still don't understand how they get around the finger scan

A lot of times those finger scans don't work, i.e. you get scanned one day, go back the next day & it doesn't recognize your scan for some reason. If there is no name printed on the ticket, the person could just say, "That's weird, it worked yesterday." I'm sure most CMs would just do a new scan & send them on through, maybe ask for ID.

 

[Alesia]

Is it legal to sell the tickets to them when they are the ones who want to buy it from me?

No. Selling partially used tickets is illegal, regardless of who approaches whom.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Also, here is a current TV article about ticket resales

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

A lot of times those finger scans don't work, i.e. you get scanned one day, go back the next day & it doesn't recognize your scan for some reason. If there is no name printed on the ticket, the person could just say, "That's weird, it worked yesterday." I'm sure most CMs would just do a new scan & send them on through, maybe ask for ID.

And alot of people figure out that fingers scans are not done in the morning most of the time as well. This trip we made or were close to RD everyday and we never got scanned, all 4 parks. When we re-entered in the afternoon/evening after break we got scanned baout 50% of the time.

 

[stargazertechie]

I've been scanned at RD multiple times.

 

[vicki_c]

Since this got pulled up (why did you pull this up, stargazer? LOL) - I thought I would just link the latest article from this week regarding arrests for ticket scams from those locations on 192 and elsewhere:

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com...0110302_1_theme-park-tickets-seaworld-orlando

 

[lauralong81]

Thanks for pulling this up again, we were in Orlando last week and stayed offsite for the first time. It was insane to me how many shops did the buy/resell thing, as i knew it was so illegal. I even asked one of the owners of the shops on Maingate lane about it, how it worked since they take a finger scan... "he said, don't worry, they will work." I said "well, isn't it illegal?" and he literally turned around and walked away from me! It felt very mob-movie-ish!

I'm just so shocked that Disney doesnt crack down on it more, but I guess they get the people in and they make money off of that. And the sherrif surely makes money off all the fines, so why try to shut it down completely? lol