PSA - Avoid Stubhub if you care about attending the ticketed event
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Anonymous
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I just had a negative experience with Stubhub and will never use its platform again. I
While Stubhub professes to guarantee the tickets they sell, here are things you should know: 1) They allow sellers to transfer tickets on the event day. In my case, I called at 10 a.m. about tickets I had purchased for an 8:00 p.m. performance that night and was told that the seller had until 4:00 p.m. to transfer the tickets. That's just 4 hours before showtime! 2) I was also told that the seller was reputable and that, more than likely, I would get my tickets by 4 p.m. They also said that if the seller did not come through by 4:00 p.m., I would receive an email with a link offering options for obtaining additional tickets at no cost. That email never came. 3) By 5:00 p.m., after spending more time on the phone with customer service, they verified that the tickets I purchased could not be transferred. They told me to wait another 15-20 minutes for a link that would give me the opportunity to get replacement tickets or request a refund. The customer service representative assured me the replacement tickets would be at no additional cost. They won't send you the link while you are on the phone with customer service. 4) As promised, I received the link (now less than three hours before showtime). While waiting for it, I checked the ticket inventory and saw that ticket availability was limited, and the only available tickets were more than double the price of the tickets I purchased. I was wondering if they would offer more expensive tickets to make up for the issues, and I was hopeful. However, when I clicked the link, it said, "We are sorry. There are no tickets available." I was able to submit a request for a "full refund," but that was little consolation when the only option to see the show was to buy the most expensive tickets. Not knowing until the 11th hour that I would not receive the tickets I purchased a week ago caused me to miss other options that might have been more affordable. This morning, I was researching Stubhub policies and learned that what happened to me is VERY common. There are countless accounts of people traveling to different cities for a show or event only to discover on the day of the event that their order could not be fulfilled. If replacement tickets are offered in these situations, they are usually worse than the original purchase (such as obstructed views). Bottom line - read the reviews and think long and hard about purchasing tickets through Stubhub, especially for popular tickets or when traveling for an event. To me, not having the tickets before the event day is a deal breaker. Never again. Lesson learned. |
Anonymous
| Wow, this is unfortunate. Thank you for sharing your experience. |
Anonymous
| Thank you for sharing. It’s crazy that they don’t make people transfer the ticket within, say, 72 hours of the sale. |
Anonymous
.+2 4 hours prior to show time is cutting it too close for a bunch of reasons. AirB nB cuts things really close too where the owner can pull out the rug from under you as late as like 4 weeks(?) prior to your rental date. This is customer based industry. They should make it customer friendly and reassuring. |
Anonymous
| On the other hand, I was able sameday to sell expensive good seats and buy expensive excellency seats to a concert via StubHub. But it was a bit nerve racking and I probably won’t buy that way again. |
Anonymous
| Thanks for sharing |
Anonymous
| To avoid this you can search of stubhub for only tickets available immediately |
Anonymous
| That’s awful. Looking to buy soon - will now avoid them. |
Anonymous
Really? How? I don’t see that as a filter. |
Anonymous
| I had a similar experience. Never again. |
Anonymous
| I’ve bought and sold on stub hub numerous times without issue. The seller is required to say when they will be able to transfer the tickets. Did this not happen? |
Anonymous
| Can I ask what was the event? I used Vivid for Taylor Swift and shockingly the tickets came through, but I was nervous about it for months (for 2 daughters and friends). I did some research and somehow found the email of the CEO so I emailed customer service with a CC to him early in the week and got my tickets transferred from the seller to my Ticketmaster account later that day. Not sure if it was a coincidence and I got lucky or what. But agree it’s too risky to do it again. |
Anonymous
Wow, good for you. No, my event wasn't a Taylor Swift show, but I've been reading many stories about Swifies having their ticket purchases canceled at the last minute. Actually, when you call Stubhub's customer service line, there is a separate life for Taylor Swift tickets. |
Anonymous
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I just had a horrible experience with Seat Geek too.
Their customer service can’t speak English. Third World call center and just repeat the same “all sales final” over and over and over if you are lucky enough to get through. |
Anonymous
I am the OP. I'm glad past purchases worked out for you. I am sharing my experience with anyone interested so that they understand what might happen if a seller does not provide the tickets as promised. It doesn't matter when the seller says they will transfer the tickets if they don't transfer them at all, right? Is information about when the tickets will be available provided to buyers before the ticket purchase? I didn't see it. I just priced tickets for two events. Both say this: DELIVERY Mobile Transfer When your mobile tickets are ready, accept the ticket transfer offer from your email account. You will need an iPhone or Android phone to use your tickets. This does not tell me when the tickets will be ready. In my case, when I received the email confirmation of the purchase, it said that the tickets would be available on Saturday (show day). That's pretty vague, but their website directs buys to call after 10 a.m. on show day if they haven't received tickets. I waited until 1 p.m. before I called, which is when they told me to call back at 4 p.m. The reason for my PSA was to make people aware that Stubhub allows sellers to transfer tickets so close to the show time, which leaves buyers out of luck if they don't come through. The repercussions for me, as a local, weren't that severe. Check out the stories on Twitter, the BBB, Yelp, or any number of other forums describing how people traveled cross-country or planned special events well in advance only to learn on the day of their show or while they were already at the venue that the seller could not fulfill their end of the bargain for tickets long since paid for. A 100% guaranteed refund in a few weeks hardly seems to make things right in those cases. I also looked at the terms of use, which indicate that I would not have been able to cancel my purchase when I received the confirmation, meaning that the buyer has no choice about the delivery time or date before purchase. It is also worth noting that Stubhub customer service has lengthy weight times. In my original post, I didn't mention how much time I spent trying to chat with customer service (you have to wait - it's not instant) or on the phone with customer service both in the morning and afternoon trying to get this resolved. The onus was on me to get the tickets I paid for. In most cases, that is going to involve waiting on hold with customer service. According to StubHub's website: https://support.stubhub.com/en/support/solutions/articles/61000276297-when-will-i-get-my-tickets-#:~:text=You'll%20get%20your%20tickets,date%20in%20your%20order%20details.
I am highlighting this because they do not, apparently, keep track of orders. If they did, there would be no reason for buyers to contact customer service to ask about the status of their tickets on the day of the event. Their version of "guaranteed delivery," does not mean you will get tickets. It just means that if you complain about not getting tickets, they will refund your money . . . at a later day (or maybe, if you are lucky, offer alternatives) and jump through their hoops, wait on hold with customer service, wait for emails to be sent, and follow other instructions, even if the event you purchased tickets for is about to begin. My guess is that they want the opportunity to have you select other tickets before giving you a refund. Another thing I learned from reading reviews is that if you don't follow that process, StubHub will deny your refund. There are a number of social media posts from people complaining that their tickets were canceled at the last minute when they were already at the venue. They purchased other (more expensive) tickets but didn't want to invest the time waiting on hold to deal with customer service while the event was going on. Later, they were told they could not get refunds because they did not follow the correct process. In any event, I'm sure there are millions of transactions that go off without a hitch. I'm just offering my experience with their version of guaranteed delivery. StubHub's policy of not requiring the transfer of tickets reasonably in advance of the event and not being proactive in ensuring that tickets are transferred puts buyers at risk of being left out in the cold, literally and figuratively. |