Woman enters Ariana Grande concert only to find her seats were allegedly given away. Then she was moved five times as part of an ‘upgrade’

A concertgoer just stumbled onto a scenario she probably never imagined. Vivian, known as risubyday on Instagram, recently headed to the Ariana Grande concert at The O2 in London. However, when she got there, the seats she paid for were no longer available.  Her experience immediately went viral, racking up over 1.6 million views in just one day as she documented a chaotic evening of being shuffled around the venue.

In the caption of her post, Vivian laid out her frustration. She wrote, “Totally screwed over by @theo2london staff last night. Showed up to our section to find the seats I PAID FOR, where the staff member gave our seats away for some reason and attempted to “upgrade” us 3 times by moving us all around and then threw us at the OVO lounge where we got kicked out of cause a 6ft tall man on a phone call couldn’t see above us 4ft11-5ft2 girlies.”

She alleged that she “Got moved a total of 5 times and missed a bunch of act 1 and act 2 performances. Completely unimpressed by the professionalism of the staff and really ruined the experience.” The video itself is a visual timeline of the ordeal. It starts with one view of the stage with the on-screen text, “O2 staff gave our seats away(??) And moved us not ONCE.” Then the clip showed their different views of Ariana performing as they were moved. 

Losing time in the move

The moves were counted with the text overlay, reading, “NOT TWICE,” “NOT THREE TIMES,” “NOT FOUR TIMES,” and finally, “BUT FIVE TIMES.” Not only that, but in every clip, Ariana is in the middle of a different song, in a new outfit. At the end of the video, Vivian is filming from high above the stage. She noted, “Ended up in the disability section.” In the subtitles, she wrote, “Thanks@theo2london for ruining a ton of songs for us!” 

Despite the interruptions, Vivian also wrote that Ariana “was great regardless.” She ended the video by zooming in on the sign language interpreter and giving her a shout-out: “This BSL lady was crazy good though.” It should be noted that Vivian’s story can’t be verified and just includes these details with no other context or information. One fan completely missed a concert because of cancer, but her husband’s attempt to cheer her up got the attention of Ariana’s team. 

Her story kicked off a debate in the comment section. One user questioned Vivian, “B—s–t. If you had tickets you would have been sat in the those seats. Should have gotten there before the show started and there wouldn’t be any drama.” 

Another commenter echoed the sentiment, stating, “There must be more to it? So you showed up with people in the seats you had tickets for and stewards moved you and not then? Did the other people have tickets with your seat and row numbers? And why would you be ejected from a lounge due a tall man? Not doubting..[it] just lacking context and detail.”

Some viewers commiserated. One person shared, “This happened to us at the O2 when we went to see a jimmy carr. I bought the tickets a few rows back from the front a year before the event. When we were sat in our seats a family came up and told us they’d bought them the month before the event and O2 made us move to seats at the back of the floor because that’s all they had. Terrible service and they didn’t seem bothered at all because it clearly happens a lot!” 

One user shared, “They screwed up seats my son paid £700 each for. ! Still had an amazing time but absolutely not on.” Another added, “I’d be asking for compensation if that was me..those tickets weren’t cheap.” Another Ariana fan lost her seats when her Ticketmaster tickets were stolen and resold.

The various views in Vivian’s video highlight one thing: you really need the right seats for the best experience. According to SeatGeek, navigating a venue you have never visited can be daunting, but there are ways to ensure you get what you pay for. 

SeatGeek suggests that fans should start by identifying the venue type, as an arena, stadium, or theater all offer very different experiences. Once you understand the layout, you can use interactive seat maps to see where each section sits relative to the stage.

SeatGeek also recommends tools like their ‘View from Seat’ feature. These help you preview the stage from specific sections to help avoid obstructed views or columns. By taking the time to research the venue, read fan tips, and understand the type of show you are attending, you can feel much more confident in your purchase.