Hong Kong’s consumer watchdog has received complaints involving ticketing errors for the much-anticipated performance of K-pop girl group NJZ, formerly known as NewJeans, which left fans with the wrong dates on their passes.
The Consumer Council said on Tuesday evening that it had received nine complaints from the South Korean group’s fans who said the tickets they purchased for NJZ’s performance in Hong Kong – with a total value of HK$39,479 – did not have the correct date, local media reported.
NJZ is slated to headline ComplexCon Hong Kong, part of the global street fashion and pop culture festival, at the AsiaWorld Expo on March 23 – the last day of the event.
It is set to be the K-pop band’s first performance under the new name, South Korean media reported.
The five-member group unveiled its new name on social media last Friday amid an ongoing legal dispute with its music agency Ador. NJZ also announced its ComplexCon performance on the same day.
Other musicians participating in the festival include K-pop singer Zico, Japanese DJ Shuzo, producer Metro Boomin and rapper Quavo – both from the US – as well as Hong Kong’s own Jace and MC Jin.
One NJZ fan said on Threads that they got a March 21 ticket despite selecting the date March 23. “I clicked for half an hour and finally got in. All along I was clicking the March 23 option… until the email showed March 21,” the fan said, attaching a picture of the ticket.
The fan also tagged ComplexCon and Cityline, one of the ticketing vendors, in the post.
Another fan said Cityline rejected their request for a refund.
‘Suspected anomalies’
ComplexCon Hong Kong said on Instagram that there were “suspected anomalies” during the ticketing process, and that it would make new ticketing arrangements for the general sale, scheduled to go live on Wednesday at 4pm.
To prevent similar mishaps, tickets for the March 23 concert featuring NJZ will go on sale first on four ticketing platforms: Trip.com, Cityline, Maoyan, and Ctrip.
Tickets for the March 21 and 22 events will not be available for purchase until further notice.
ComplexCon also said it had communicated with Cityline for further action. However, it was unable to “directly investigate and determine the cause of the incident” as it did not have access to Cityline’s system.
Cityline acknowledged that it had received inquiries from festival-goers but denied there had been system irregularities. “We have reviewed the transaction records with system logs accordingly and can confirm no irregularities were found,” it said.
“We will look into the cases with details provided and work with the organizer for timely responses,” the ticketing platform said in its statement. The ticketing mishaps occurred during the priority booking period, which ran from Monday to Tuesday.
HKFP has reached out to Cityline, ComplexCon and the Consumer Council for comment.
ComplexCon Hong Kong is funded by the Hong Kong government’s Mega Arts and Cultural Events Fund, according to the event’s website. Authorities have made it a key policy priority to hold “mega-events” in the city in a bid to boost the tourism industry.
