PSA - Avoid Stubhub if you care about attending the ticketed event

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To avoid this you can search of stubhub for only tickets available immediately

Really? How? I don’t see that as a filter.

DP. I don’t recall exactly where it is, but there is usually a line on the listing that says something like “available for immediate transfer.” I’ve purchased tickets for many, many events, and I can recall one or two events where I didn’t get the tickets immediately, and it made me nervous, but it has always worked out.

I did have a bit of an issue recently, when I bought tickets that I intended to transfer to someone else, which I have done before. The first email included the usual instructions on how to transfer the tickets, but it didn’t work. Then the day before the event, I got another email saying the venue wouldn’t allow tickets to be transferred on the app. Luckily, one of the people going was my DH, so I just signed his phone into my account and downloaded the tickets directly, but that could have been a major hassle.

So, yes, there’s always a risk something will go wrong, but it’s actually pretty rare if you consider how many millions of tickets they resell, and it certainly beats the risk of buying fake tickets from a guy on the street, which is how it used to be done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s worse for sellers. If that person couldn’t or didn’t transfer the tickets, their credit card is charged for the full amount you paid. It’s automatic. Meaning: stub hub have you no tickets and the seller gave the same amount to stub hub that you would have paid. And they still gave you nothing.

To clarify: we’ve had horrible experiences with them as sellers. The rest of what I wrote doesn’t support that. I was just letting you know that stubhub failed to give you tickets and we’re paid by the seller exactly what you would have paid for the tickets. As for why stubhub is bad for sellers you’ll find lots of stories about it on Reddit but essentially:

Seller sells tickets. Stubhub gets the money immediately from buyer. seller transfers the tickets to buyer directly through Ticketmaster. Stubhub’s site shows the tickets were transferred. Their rules state that sellers don’t get paid until 2 weeks after the show date. Stubhub keeps the money that whole time and, of course, the growth in the aggregate of all those sales.

Date of show passes and buyer claims the tickets weren’t useable. 100% of the time, stubhub denies payment to the seller. Seller then needs to upload proof to stubhub that the tickets were transferred. That worked for us BUT you’ll see on Reddit for lots and lots of people, stubhub rejected their proof and the sellers were out the tickets and the money on the sale…and the sellers aren’t told this until weeks after the show ended. (They have an additional two weeks after the show ends when they finally pay the seller. They do not tell the seller of the claimed issue with the tickets until the seller calls and calls to ask where the payment is.) if you read up on this - you’ll see what a racket it is.

[Anonymous]

I sell tickets all the time stubhub. I have opposite concern buyers need to accept my Ticketmaster transfer and often wait to last second. Annoying as don’t want bozos complaining they did not get it and dispute

Someone accepted my Jets/Chiefs transfer last night almost at game time. They must have been in parking lot!! What is something went wrong

[Anonymous]

This post makes me nervous---we bought Stubhub tickets last week for an Orioles play-off game and the tickets haven't even been issued yet since the game time is TBD. I imagine that most of these sales go through but who knows.

We got a super deal on the seats because we bought them before the O's even clinched the division (so the games were still theoretical). I imagine this type of deal falls through even more than most.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This post makes me nervous---we bought Stubhub tickets last week for an Orioles play-off game and the tickets haven't even been issued yet since the game time is TBD. I imagine that most of these sales go through but who knows.

We got a super deal on the seats because we bought them before the O's even clinched the division (so the games were still theoretical). I imagine this type of deal falls through even more than most.

Yes, I'd say "most of these sales go through" -- we've used stub hub many many times without a problem. But it's a third party reseller site - so you're relying on people to do the thing they agreed to (sell or buy tix).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I sell tickets all the time stubhub. I have opposite concern buyers need to accept my Ticketmaster transfer and often wait to last second. Annoying as don’t want bozos complaining they did not get it and dispute

Someone accepted my Jets/Chiefs transfer last night almost at game time. They must have been in parking lot!! What is something went wrong [/quote

If you made the transfer, you should get paid so long as you transferred them correctly. Stubhub doesn’t care whether the tickets are accepted or used.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I sell tickets all the time stubhub. I have opposite concern buyers need to accept my Ticketmaster transfer and often wait to last second. Annoying as don’t want bozos complaining they did not get it and dispute

Someone accepted my Jets/Chiefs transfer last night almost at game time. They must have been in parking lot!! What is something went wrong

I have had the same issue. I sell there often. I don’t understand why someone would wait to accept tickets I’ve transferred. I don’t buy tickets that don’t indicate they can be transferred immediately. Just my experience.

[Anonymous]

I had to buy a ticket today via Stubhub and was wary. Thankfully it was instant transfer and Ticketmaster sent it within minutes.

But yeah, I don’t like buying resale tickets

[Anonymous]

Here are just a few examples of news stories about people who had ticket orders cancelled, some at the last minute. These all involved the purchase of Taylor Swift tickets. The first one is a local family.

https://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2023/05/rockville-mother-and-daughter-say-stubhub-is-the-anti-hero-after-taylor-swift-ticket-snub/

https://nypost.com/2023/05/21/massachusetts-dad-pays-21000-for-last-minute-taylor-swift-tickets/

https://abc7news.com/taylor-swift-tickets-stubhub-ticket-scalping-resale/13320765/

https://wreg.com/news/local/teen-misses-taylor-swift-concert-after-stubhub-seller-resells-tickets/

https://fox4kc.com/news/problem-solvers/lees-summit-dad-daughter-get-floor-seats-to-taylor-swift-after-stubhub-incident/

https://www.fox29.com/news/delaware-county-family-flabbergasted-after-buying-taylor-swift-tickets-but-still-not-going-to-the-show

This last article is interesting.

https://fox59.com/news/national-world/illinois-familys-taylor-swift-stubhub-ticket-trouble-finally-resolved/

When the electronic tickets didn’t arrive, Finnegan embarked on a six-month ordeal that included dozens of phone calls, emails, and messages to StubHub customer service.

“We’re here to make sure you get your tickets in time for the event,” StubHub reps wrote in multiple emails. “We will provide you all the help that you need to receive the tickets for the event.”

However, the fine print of StubHub’s “Fan Protect Guarantee” says the company promises to get buyers the tickets they ordered, comparable or better tickets, or a refund.

Finnegan said in early May, a customer service rep revealed StubHub typically only offers comparable tickets if they can be secured for up to 150% of the customer’s purchase price.

The sky-high prices of Swift tickets quickly ruled out that option but Finnegan said StubHub never told her. “There was no chance at any time throughout this entire process since November was I ever going to get comparable tickets.”

WGN contacted StubHub to ask why this family was strung along for so long. Shortly after, StubHub sent the Finnegan family tickets to Friday’s concert at Soldier Field.

“StubHub’s FanProtect Guarantee ensures that a ticket buyer will get in the door, and if any issue occurs, we’ll find an equivalent or better ticket, or provide a full refund, but our priority is always to get our customers in the door,” a StubHub spokesperson wrote in an email to WGN Investigates.

“In Ms. Finnegan’s case, we have provided upgraded replacement tickets, per our policy and hope she’ll enjoy the show.”

At every turn, StubHub offers misleading, if not outright false assurance that customers who purchased tickets will be able to attend the event even if the original seller doesn't come through. In several of the cases above, the purchaser only got replacement tickets because the media intervened. Most people wind up either not seeing the event or spending significantly more for tickets on their own, or sitting in obstructed view seats that are worse that what they purchased.What is worse is that they hold buyers hostage, stringing them along to believe that they might be able to get new tickets without disclosing their terms for replacment offers.

As others noted, SubHub is a third-party marketplace, but they do charge substantial fees to both buyers and sellers for providing the service, which means they bear some responsiblity for making these transactions run smoothly and honestly stating what their "100% guarantee" actually means. At the end of the day, they do guarantee that you will get a refund, but even that depends on complying with their terms.

[Anonymous]

I never buy resell tickets for this very reason. It has to be possible for these platforms to restrict sales to only those with tickets in hand.

Also, sometimes these resellers will have the tickets available on multiple platforms and forget to deactivate them on one when they sell on the other. I saw this multiple times with Taylor Swift tickets. I was trying to help a friend get tickets and would see the same exact seats listed on 3 different platforms at different prices.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for this PSA. Truly unbelievable. I’m sorry this happened to you, OP. I appreciate that you’ve shared this so we can all be better informed.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Since I complained about StubHub, I wanted to come back and share a positive detail. StubHub refunded the cost of my ticket order immediately. It's already been credited to my account, so I appreciate that quick action. As I mentioned in earlier posts, their guarantee has multiple parts, and I take issue with some of the promises that are part of the guarantee, including their alleged commitment to provide tickets on time and to offer alternative seats and no additional charge if your order falls through (the options offered are at their sole discretion). However, StubHub absolutely came through on its promise to give a refund if the order was not fulfilled, and they did it quickly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That’s awful. Looking to buy soon - will now avoid them.

There is no need to avoid them if you pay attention to what you are agreeing to buy and how.

I have to agree here. While it sucks the seller didn't honor the sale, that is the risk of buying third hand. Just like people don't show up when buying something from Craigslist.

The issue is for many retailers like Ticketmaster, they don't make the ticket available to transfer until 24-48 hours before the show. It's always going to be a gamble but SH will give full refund if you don't get the transfer. I wouldn't purchase a ticket that didn't have immediate transfer if it was a show I was relying on attending (like plane tickets to go see). The listing is very clear if the tickets are available now or the time they will be delivered by.

Example:
These tickets to Orioles games are available for immediate download.

https://www.stubhub.com/baltimore-orioles-baltimore-tickets-10-7-2023/event/152148797/?quantity=2&listingId=6596850078&listingQty=

[Anonymous]

It's November, three days until showtime, and I just tried to get my tickets for an event I purchased back in May - 6 months ago. Even though I have confirmation numbers, etc., they said I don't actually have tickets (meaning the ticket seller isn't giving me the tickets that were advertised and sold to me), and "IF" I was charged, I should get a refund. WHAT? I won't go into how much this has upset us, but I can tell you that the heading on this post is absolutely correct - Avoid Stubhub if you care about attending the ticketed event. Lesson learned, I will only use Ticketmaster.

[Anonymous]

The Stubhub service works well for the sellers, and for those who don't care if they'll make it or not to an event. Meaning, young folks looking for cheaper tickets with a lot of time to "spare". If you have to travel to an event, to take a day off to make it, wanting to not miss the opportunity to see that particular event or spend time with someone on that date/event, then StubHub IS NOT THE PLACE TO BUT the tickets. All they do is "we'll try out best to link you with a seller, and if successful we'll collect the fee. If not successful all we'll do we'll give you YOUR many back." A pretty low risk on their side that something can go wrong for them I got caught this time and that's it from me. Crossing them out on my list of options. Still, their approach may work for someone.