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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   1955 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for March 27, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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This may be a small question, but it's about something fun and it can't wait till Sunday: I've bought my family tickets to a big soccer game, and the team we're watching sent us an email demanding that I prove by Tuesday that I'm a fan, or they'll cancel our tickets (flights, hotels, etc. already booked). Unfortunately, I'm not a fan of their team, we just want to watch the match. As such, I need someone to make an AI/filtered/etc. image of me wearing their shirt or scarf in a bar. It needs to look real enough to deceive someone looking to spot photoshopped images (but probably not super familiar with AI). If the image works, I'll donate $100 to a charity of your choice - or, if you happen to be interested, I can get you a World Cup ticket at face value minus the $100.

Please DM if interested. Why to trust I won't welsh on you: I have close IRL friends who are users and a couple powerusers on this forum who know who I am, so a callout post would hit my real-life reputation.

Mods, please delete if you don't like this. As I see it, this is legal and normal to do in the UK, though most people don't go as far as I'm trying. Plus what they're doing is kind of a dick move, the stadium isn't even sold out so it's not like the locals need the tickets.

Update for those following: after seeing some of the comments, I realized that I wasn't thinking enough like a hustler. I happen to be in New York right now, and the England football team were playing an international friendly today. I hared down to Chinatown, found a place that was selling old football shirts/bootlegs of old football shirts, bought one, checked the club's website to see where their NYC fans go for games, reached that bar while England was still playing, got some guys to take photos with me. A lot more fun than messing around with ChatGPT. Thanks all for your kind advice and offers.

Alternatively, or simultaneously, this sounds like something you could (threaten to) take up under the consumer rights act and equivalent protections.

They are incurring real losses for you by effectively changing the standards of the contract post buy. That is a very very shaky place to stand, it doesn’t matter what weasel words they put in the terms and conditions.

I find that doubtful. This was almost certainly part of the original contract and the purchase was flagged for review due to purchase history.

Doesn’t matter. If it’s not very clearly flagged in advance, such that he couldn’t have bought it without reasonably expecting this turn of events, then it’s not appropriate under UK law.

In general if a consumer would reasonably expect X, and not-X isn’t both clearly flagged and legally appropriate, and he has accumulated financial damage as a result, then the seller is up shit creek without a paddle. Doesn’t matter what the terms and conditions say. You can’t sign away your rights as a consumer in the UK, especially not three paragraphs into the small text.

@MadMonzer, do you have any thoughts? The above is true as far as I’m aware, and AI agrees.

This is a business-to-consumer contract, so the law on unfair terms in consumer contracts applies. This is a hugely complex area of law (the official government guidance runs to 144 pages) where the statute and regulations were re-written in 2015 to bring British law in line with EU law (and not updated since Brexit) but most of the cases predate the new law.

But the key point is that Arsenham FC can enforce the term if it is "fair" and not if it is "unfair". Hidden terms are on the "greylist" of terms that will usually be unfair, but even if the rule "we can cancel your tickets without notice if you turn out not to be a fan" was clearly state, it would be invalid if substantially unfair.

The relevant section in the guidance is 5.16.3 on unequal cancellation rights

This applies particularly to terms which explicitly say that the trader can cancel at will, without having any valid reason. But it also applies to terms which permit cancellation for vaguely defined reasons, or in response to any breach of contract (however trivial) by the consumer. Such terms may be intended to allow the business to do no more than protect itself legitimately from problems beyond its control, or from serious misconduct by the consumer. But the potential effect as well as the purpose of terms is relevant to fairness, and if wording is loosely drafted and open to abuse it is liable to be seen as unbalancing the contract.

Cancelling a contract because the customer is not a fan would be a vaguely defined reason, meaning that the term is greylisted and therefore probably unfair. It might be fair under the circumstances if @Bartender_Venator had e.g. taken advantage of a discount specifically marketed at fans.

There is a separate point that the contract isn't formed until the business accepts the customer's offer. If you booked the flights and accommodation before getting a confirmation e-mail saying "your tickets are booked" and then unfortunately got a non-confirmation e-mail saying "please prove you are a fan before we will release your tickets" then you never had a contract and are SOL.

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