In this guide
The Madrid startup built on a New York problemA 4.2 on Trustpilot, a 1.6 everywhere angrierThe 30% surprise at checkoutWhy the turnstile is the real riskThe verdict, minus the hedgingFAQsHello Tickets resells event tickets in more than 15 languages from its base in Madrid
A Chelsea supporter bought two seats for the Sunderland match last October as a gift, and the recipients were turned away at Stamford Bridge because the seller had no authority to sell them. So, is Hello Tickets legit? As a company, yes: Hello Ticket SL has been registered at the Mercantile Registry of Madrid since September 2016 and most of its customers get in without drama. The questions worth your money sit elsewhere: fees reported at close to 30%, tickets that land hours before kick-off and a UK football problem written into criminal law three decades ago.
Hello Tickets is a hybrid. Much of its catalogue is tours and attractions in the mould of GetYourGuide, while the sport and concert side is a resale marketplace connecting buyers to third-party sellers at above face value. That second half is the territory our Premier League tickets pages cover, and it is where the fine print matters most.
The Madrid startup built on a New York problem
Founder Jorge Díaz Largo, previously a vice president at the ticketing platform Ticketbis, started the company after failing to buy NBA seats as a tourist in New York. Growth has been steady rather than spectacular: around 48 employees in 2024, turnover up roughly 27% year on year and a $3.4 million seed round closed in January 2020.
None of that reads like a scam, and ScamAdviser rates the site safe on age, traffic and security signals. The corporate file just cannot tell you what happens when a purchase goes wrong.
A 4.2 on Trustpilot, a 1.6 everywhere angrier
The main Trustpilot profile holds 4.2 stars from around 3,326 reviews as of July 2026, with the Spanish and French country profiles higher still. The company answers most reviews, positive and negative, and satisfied buyers describe valid barcodes, smooth entry at NBA arenas and support staff who reply in their own language.
The complaint sites tell the other half. PissedConsumer scores it 1.6 from a small sample of 14 reviews, a New York Yelp listing runs heavily negative and the Better Business Bureau lists it as non-accredited, with post to its New York address returned undeliverable in January 2025. Small samples skew angry, but the themes repeat too often to dismiss: late tickets, surprise fees and refunds that require a fight.
The 30% surprise at checkout
Fees are the loudest single grievance. Service charges appear only at the final payment step, and buyers report them reaching about 30% of the ticket price, and one counted more than €150 in reservation fees on a single O2 Arena booking. Delivery timing frustrates too, since tickets are forwarded only once the seller releases them, sometimes one or two days out and occasionally on the day itself.
The refund policy is stricter than the marketing suggests. If an event goes ahead, the sale is final, even when a fixture is moved to a date you cannot make, and there is no relisting option to recoup the cost. Cancelled events are refunded, but only after the organiser pays Hello Tickets back, and management fees can be withheld in force majeure cases. Several buyers only recovered money through PayPal disputes or card chargebacks, so pay by one of those routes every time.
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Why the turnstile is the real risk
UK football is where caution hardens into a warning. Section 166 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 makes it a criminal offence for an unauthorised person to sell a ticket for a designated football match, which covers the Premier League, the EFL and the FA Cup, and the resale reforms announced in late 2025 left that regime untouched. Clubs state plainly that tickets from unauthorised resellers can be voided at the gate.
That is precisely what the reports describe: the Chelsea refusal above, plus Liverpool v Fulham seats that would not load into a wallet and failed at the turnstiles. Hello Tickets refunded the Chelsea buyer with a goodwill gesture, but a refund does not rescue a ruined matchday. The problem is structural rather than unique to one platform, as our StubHub review sets out, yet it lands hardest on visitors who assume a polished checkout means an authorised seat. This is general guidance, not legal advice.
The verdict, minus the hedging
Hello Tickets is a genuine business that delivers for most buyers, most of the time, and its guarantee covers cancellations and non-delivery. It is a resale intermediary with weaker written protections than the buyer promises we tested in our viagogo review, fees you only see at the end and one category, English football, where the law stacks the risk onto you.
- Strengths: real Madrid-registered company, strong Trustpilot record, PayPal accepted and support in more than 15 languages
- Weaknesses: fees near 30% disclosed late, last-minute delivery, final-sale rules on rescheduled events and documented UK football entry refusals
- Best for: overseas NBA games, Broadway and attractions; worst for Premier League, EFL and FA Cup matches
Whichever resale site you use, five minutes with our guide to World Cup ticket scams will sharpen your eye for the warning signs that separate a late ticket from a lost one.
FAQs
1. Can UK buyers pay in pounds?
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Yes, the site accepts UK billing addresses with checkout priced in pounds.
2. Which payment methods does it accept?
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Major cards and PayPal, which few resale rivals take and which gives buyers a stronger dispute route.
3. Can you relist a ticket you can no longer use?
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No, there is no fan-to-fan resale feature, so a valid ticket you cannot attend with is a sunk cost.
4. Is Hello Tickets connected to Ticketbis or StubHub?
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No, it is an independent private company with no parent group behind it.
5. How quickly does customer support respond?
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Reviews are split, with many praising named agents who reply within hours and others reporting silence until a PayPal case forced an answer.
Hello Tickets is a real marketplace with real caveats, sharpest of all in English football. 1BoxOffice has covered sold-out fixtures since 2006 with a 150% money-back guarantee paid in cash.
Sources: Registro Mercantil de Madrid company filings; Crunchbase; Trustpilot; PissedConsumer; Better Business Bureau; legislation.gov.uk, Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994; Premier League safe ticket buying guidance.
