Complaint Review: StubHub

I bought tickets for a concert that was rescheduled during Hurricane Sandy.  The concert was supposed to be on Oct 30. We found out it was cancelled the day before, when Hurricane Sandy hit. We lost power, phone, and internet that day.  As soon as I had some internet access (Nov 1), I emailed StubHub explaining that the concert was cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy, that it had been rescheduled for Nov 7th, that we couldn't make that day, and that the venue was offering refunds to people who couldn't make the rescheduled date.  I explained the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the postponement and that the venue told us we should be able to get a refund from our point of purchase. 

Their email response stated:  "Thank you for contacting StubHub.

I’m sorry that your event did not occur as planned, but don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! At this point there are a couple of ways this could go: 

If you're not going to be able to make the new date, you can post the tickets for sale on StubHub. Just click Sell at the top of the StubHub web page and we’ll walk you through the process step-by-step.

If your event is cancelled we'll email you to let you know it’s been cancelled. If you return your tickets to us within two weeks of receiving the event cancellation email, we'll fully refund the cost of the tickets plus all service and shipping fees. Please allow three weeks for us to process your refund. 

If you’d like more information about cancelled or postponed events, check out our FanProtect Guarantee. 

I hope this answers your questions, but please feel free to contact us if you need more information. We’re here to help!" 

So I called for help...I explained everything again, but they insisted I could not have a refund--even though the venue was offering refunds. I told them I didn't think I'd be able to resell the tickets, since internet/phone/power was out for most of NJ & NY, and I didn't have consistent access. Again, I was told no refunds; it was not their policy.  After a lot of pleading, I told them I would file a dispute with my credit card company.

I assumed--and was right--that StubHub would fight the dispute since their guarantee and email only mentioned the option to resell.  Having already experienced their deceptive techniques, I figured that it would be a long battle to get my money back, so when I didn't get a resolution by the day of the concert, I thought about trying to use the tickets and contacting the credit card company to drop the dispute.  

I couldn't get into my account. I kept getting "account not found," when I tried to login, so I called StubHub. They said they closed it since I filed a dispute. I told them the concert was that night and I didn't have the tickets.   They said if I cc'ed them on an email to my CC company saying I drop the dispute, they would reinstate my account, but they could not guarantee I would be able access the account that night to get the tickets. 

$200 tickets wasted. 

Then came the lying. StubHub kept telling my CC company I had received the tickets. Their actions ensured they could continue to claim I had the tickets, since they never emailed or sent anything in writing to tell me they were closing the account. Sneaky...How can you prove you couldn't log into an account?  And of course, I did not record our phone conversation.  When is it EVER appropriate to close a customer's account because they have a dispute?  Shouldn't companies try to work with their customers instead of against them. Then add the insult that they don't even tell you they are locking you out. It's well known that this is their policy...I've seen many other posts about this. It's unethical, unprofessional, and a bad business practice. 

StubHub was wrong on so many levels-denying a refund during these circumstances, locking me out of my account, not telling me they were locking me out prior to doing so, then denying they revoked my access. 

DO NOT USE STUBHUB!!  They have poor ethics, are unprofessional, and have horrible customer service.