When you buy an event ticket you are entering into two contracts: One with the promoter to provide the event and one with the agent to process payment for the ticket.

It may sound obvious but we're Agents. All Agents perform a separate service from the Principal. They act as a go-between between you and the seller. You pay an Estate Agent to sell your house for you or you pay Ebay to sell your unwanted items.
The difference is that most agents get paid by the seller. (the above are good examples) but Ticket Agent fees are almost always paid by the buyer. (If you see a ticket that appears to have no booking fee, it just means the promoter has included the fee in the price)

It's a tradition that dates back to the 18th century and despite many people thinking it's extra cost, it's a much cheaper option than the alternatives. It's unlikely to change.
So why is it not refundable? The answer to that is because the transaction with the event organiser isn't complete until the event takes place so, the ticket agent may also have to refund you as part of the service of supply.

The service we offer is unrelated to the service provided by the event organiser. We supply the ticket, we process the payment and then, if the other party fails to supply, we ensure you get the money back for the service that wasn't supplied.

 Booking fees through event agents are set at 10% and a 10% booking fee does not cover the cost of processing both sales and refunds so, the fact that the service has been supplied may explain the legal position but the reality position is that it's also not viable to return the fee. A promoter may have an unexpected cancellation and lose money but, for us, cancellations are expected on a fairly regular basis. As a result, it's an integral part of our service to arrange refunds when things don't go according to plan. Part of your payment to us is insurance against cancellation.

 However. there is an exception. When you buy tickets for London Theatres and the event is cancelled or the main actors pull out, you could choose between attending on another day or ask to be refunded. If you chose a refund then that would include the booking fee.

If that sounds like a better deal you need to know there's a catch. The booking fee for London Theatre productions is 25% of the face value.
 If the industry or the government ever bow to pressure from consumers to make all booking fees refundable, then the price of event tickets will rise by at least 10% to cover that cost. That's not something we want to see.

To summarise.
You are actually entering into two transactions with two separate parties. 
The Promoter of the event sells you a licence to attend the event at "face value". 
The Agent merely sells you the service of supplying the ticket and processing the payment.
When an event is cancelled you only have a right to a refund where the service has not been supplied.

Ticket touts and resellers.
The industry standard is 10%. This is one way of recognising that the agent is authorised. Anyone charging you much in excess of that amount is unauthorised. Tickets purchased in this way are not valid for entry and may not even be real tickets. A ticket tout is very unlikely to offer refunds in the event of a cancellation. Although it is illegal under The Berne convention and copyright laws to make a copyrighted performance available (i.e. to resell a ticket) without the written permission of the copyright holder, the resale of a ticket for the price you paid is acceptable. If you are unable to attend, email us as we may be able to resell it on your behalf.

Buying direct from the promoter.
There are instances where tickets can be bought directly from the promoter for the face-value. It's rare as most promoters do not have the money, time or facilities to do this and as there's no charge to them for using an agent, why would they?
The answer is usually to fund the event so it's important to remember that a promoter who has used ticket revenue to finance the event is unlikely to be able to offer refunds if the event fails. Save your energy and don't even try if there's no information on his website.

Cancellation of outdoor events.
One final point on cancellations (that everyone should be aware of) is that, even when you buy tickets from an agent, there are circumstances for which you may not be entitled to a refund. The exception applies to outdoor events. For instance if an event is cancelled because of bad weather, a foot and mouth outbreak or similar you would not be entitled to a refund. The legislation was introduced in advance of The Olympics and would be logical if there were no insurance available for these circumstances. 
Thankfully, we have yet to encounter a promoter who has been in that situation and not refunded the customers.

We apologise but, in general, where a payment has been processed for a ticket the transaction fees are not refundable. (See top of page) Where the error is ours or the order has not yet been processed then all fees will be refunded

You will see this option on quite a few tickets. Sometimes referred to as COBO or an E-ticket it means you can print your ticket at home on your own printer. When you arrive at the venue the tickets barcode will be scanned or ticked off against a list. This means you can print it as many times as you like but only use it once. Please Note: "Box Office" refers to the point of entry at the venue and may be just a table by the door.