Sports fans joining the last-minute rush for Olympic tickets have been warned that the "unfair" returns system could leave Britons with a £50 million credit card interest bill for over-ordered seats.
The deadline to book seats for the London 2012 games is at 23.59 on Tuesday night.
According to the organising committee, many consumers have left it to the last moment to book their tickets, with four-times the number of people ordering tickets each day over the Bank Holiday weekend than in previous days.
It is expected an even greater number will book in the last few hours before the application process closes.
However, many consumers have expressed alarm that they have ended up potentially spending far too much on the tickets in the hope of securing just a couple of seats. Many have ordered far more than they can afford in the expectation that they will only get a fraction of what they asked for. or that they will be able to resell tickets through an official website.
The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (Locog) hopes to raise about £400 million of its target of £500 million from ticket sales by Tuesday night.
The money will be taken off consumers' credit cards between May 10 and June 10 this year, but they will not be notified until June 24 for which events they have actually secured tickets.
Yesterday a spokesman for The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games said that the resale website, the only legitimate channel through which people can resell tickets, will not be operating until next year.
This means that consumers who end up receiving more tickets than they can actually afford will have to pay interest on their credit cards at least eight months before being able to resell tickets. The only payment methods allowed, because Visa is a major sponsor, is a Visa credit card, a Visa debit card, cheque or postal order.
The average credit card annual interest rate, according to the Bank of England, is 18.84 per cent, which would mean that consumers' interest bill will be £50 million before they can recoup any money from over-ordered tickets next year.
The deadline to book seats for the London 2012 games is at 23.59 on Tuesday night.
According to the organising committee, many consumers have left it to the last moment to book their tickets, with four-times the number of people ordering tickets each day over the Bank Holiday weekend than in previous days.
It is expected an even greater number will book in the last few hours before the application process closes.
However, many consumers have expressed alarm that they have ended up potentially spending far too much on the tickets in the hope of securing just a couple of seats. Many have ordered far more than they can afford in the expectation that they will only get a fraction of what they asked for. or that they will be able to resell tickets through an official website.
The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (Locog) hopes to raise about £400 million of its target of £500 million from ticket sales by Tuesday night.
The money will be taken off consumers' credit cards between May 10 and June 10 this year, but they will not be notified until June 24 for which events they have actually secured tickets.
Yesterday a spokesman for The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games said that the resale website, the only legitimate channel through which people can resell tickets, will not be operating until next year.
This means that consumers who end up receiving more tickets than they can actually afford will have to pay interest on their credit cards at least eight months before being able to resell tickets. The only payment methods allowed, because Visa is a major sponsor, is a Visa credit card, a Visa debit card, cheque or postal order.
The average credit card annual interest rate, according to the Bank of England, is 18.84 per cent, which would mean that consumers' interest bill will be £50 million before they can recoup any money from over-ordered tickets next year.
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