It was slightly pompous, but whatevs. It went like this:

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Your manifesto says "Many people believe that tickets have become just too expensive... we agree and we undertake to do our best to reverse this." How do you square this with the fact that you've basically created a site that legitimises touting by allowing people to charge what they like for tickets? For example, tickets to see Bruce Springsteen in Hyde Park are going on here for up to £155. That's a 200% markup. That's not someone adding on the booking fees they've paid, or a fiver extra as compensation for inconvenience – it's touting, plain and simple.

I'm not sure whether to expect a response, but given that your manifesto also states "We'll admit when we screw things up – then we'll try and make it right", I'm hoping you'll do me the courtesy of explaining your position.

Joe Mahon

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Yesterday I got this reply:

Dear Joseph,

Thank you for your email and apologies for the delay in responding. As Seatwave is a ticket exchange on the secondary market, tickets are charged at the price at which the seller decides to list them. Seatwave has no control over the price set for the tickets that we list, but we do recommend that sellers list their tickets at the prices that are determined by the market place. We recommend that sellers take a good look at the Market Information and try to price their tickets based on how other similar tickets are listed.

In terms of the listed ticket price; this takes into account the price the seller asks for as opposed to the actual Face Value of the ticket (when originally put on sale). We legally have to state the Face Value of the tickets – this is on the first page of the transaction after selecting the date, then selecting the desired ticket listing. The actual face value is stated before any personal or credit card details are asked for.

If you have any further questions, please let us know.

Kind regards,

Geoffrey | Customer Service Adviser

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So there you go. Turns out I was wrong, and Seatwave isn't actually a cynical ploy to wring more money out of the secondary ticket market while pretending to be on the consumer's side. OH NO WAIT, he hasn't actually answered my question at all. Never mind.