in this case
- Paul Avron’s daughter bought three Coldplay tickets at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami for $1,027, nine months before the show, as a birthday gift for her best friend and the friend’s dad.
- On the day of the concert the StubHub app said the tickets were being released, but they never appeared. With the show already starting, the family called in a panic and a representative refused replacement tickets, telling them to buy new ones instead.
- The rep said he found three tickets for just $1 more and sent a link. The tickets were actually $1,000 each, and StubHub charged the credit card $3,000. StubHub’s FanProtect Guarantee promises valid tickets or your money back, plus comparable replacements when possible.
Paul Avron’s daughter buys Coldplay tickets nine months before their show, but when the tickets don’t appear on the day of the event, a StubHub representative advises her to spend an additional $3,000 for replacement tickets. Can she get a refund?
Question
My daughter bought three tickets to see Coldplay at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami for $1,027 nine months before the event. This was a birthday gift for her best friend and the friend’s dad. They had been looking forward to it for months.
On the day of the show, the StubHub app said the tickets were being released. But when the show started and the tickets still hadn’t appeared, we called StubHub in a panic. We asked for the tickets or replacement tickets so they could get into the concert.
The last representative we spoke to refused to provide replacement tickets. He said we had to buy new ones and that StubHub would refund the $1,027 my daughter had already paid. The rep told us he saw three tickets for just $1 more than we had originally paid. He sent us a link, which we opened and paid for using my credit card.
Here’s where it gets bad: It turns out the tickets were $1,000 per ticket, not $1 more total. StubHub charged my credit card $3,000.
I immediately called my credit card company to dispute the charge. Separately, I called StubHub directly. Both representatives I spoke with said they would not credit my account.
Look, if StubHub had simply provided the tickets my daughter purchased or given us replacement tickets like they should have, I wouldn’t be in this situation. And for the record, we did not accept those expensive tickets or use them. We never even went to the concert.
Can you help us get a refund for the full amount charged to my credit card? – Paul Avron, Parkland, Fla.
The solution is simple. StubHub and others should require sellers to transfer the tickets to them when they create the listing. Then all tickets would be instant download when they are purchased. Or at the very least, they should require sellers to transfer the tickets within 24 hours of purchase. If the buyers do not receive them in that time, they should be able to receive an immediate refund.
The problem is the sites allow sellers to list tickets without proof that they actually have them and have no way to ensure that the tickets will be transferred in a timely manner.
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Answer
StubHub should have delivered your daughter’s tickets. Period. When a seller doesn’t deliver, StubHub’s FanProtect Guarantee is supposed to kick in. The guarantee promises valid tickets or your money back. But it also says StubHub will find you comparable replacement tickets when possible.
The real problem here is what happened during that support call. You were scrambling to get into a concert that was already starting. The representative told you the replacement tickets cost “$1 more” than your original purchase. But you ended up buying tickets for $1,000 each a total of $3,000.
That’s not a small miscommunication. That’s a communication catastrophe.
Your case is a reminder to read the purchase screen carefully even if a representative gives you the price on the phone. Talk is cheap. It’s the price on the checkout screen that counts.
You did several things right. You kept all your documentation, including both order numbers and the details of your conversations with StubHub. You contacted your credit card company right away. You followed up with StubHub directly. Those are exactly the right moves.
You could have also escalated your case in writing to one of the StubHub executives. (I publish them on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org.) A brief, polite email that outlines the facts and includes your paper trail often gets results when regular customer service hasn’t helped.
Here’s something else worth mentioning: I’ve covered several StubHub cases where tickets didn’t arrive as promised. In a recent column about nonexistent seats, I noted that StubHub’s FanProtect Guarantee looks appealing on paper, but enforcement often depends on persistence and proper escalation. Your case shows the same pattern.
After you contacted me, my advocacy team reached out to StubHub. The company investigated your claim.
“We’re truly sorry this customer missed an event that was so meaningful to them,” a StubHub spokesperson told me. “When their original tickets were not delivered, we issued a full refund under our FanProtect Guarantee.”
StubHub says it refunded your second purchase even though it didn’t qualify under its standard policy to make things right.
“We know how important live experiences are and remain committed to supporting fans when things don’t go as planned,” the StubHub representative added.
You’re getting everything back, in other words. Your daughter gets her original $1,027 back, and you get the $3,000 refunded to your credit card.
Ticket resale platforms walk a tightrope. They’re not the primary seller, so they rely on third parties to deliver. But when you make a promise to protect fans, you have to keep it. And when a customer service representative gives pricing information during a high-stress moment, that information needs to be crystal clear.
Your voice matters
A guarantee is only as good as its enforcement. When tickets bought nine months early never arrived, a panicked family was steered into a $3,000 purchase during a phone call, after a rep described the price as just a dollar more. This case raises hard questions about how resale platforms treat fans when things go wrong.
- Should ticket resale platforms be legally required to deliver guaranteed replacement tickets directly when a seller fails, rather than making the buyer purchase new ones?
- Should a price quoted by an agent on a recorded line be legally binding, even if the checkout screen shows a higher amount?
- Should resale platforms be required to refund buyers automatically when promised tickets are never delivered, without forcing a chargeback dispute?
What you need to know when StubHub tickets don’t arrive
Quick answers to the most common questions about what happens when resale tickets fail to appear, what the FanProtect Guarantee covers, and how to get your money back.
StubHub’s FanProtect Guarantee is the company’s buyer protection promise. It commits StubHub to providing valid tickets or your money back if something goes wrong with an order. The guarantee also says StubHub will find you comparable replacement tickets when possible. In practice, enforcement often depends on the buyer’s persistence and proper escalation.
Under the FanProtect Guarantee, StubHub should either deliver valid tickets or provide comparable replacements when possible, or refund your money. The platform should not make you buy expensive new tickets out of pocket to get into the event when the tickets you already paid for fail to appear. If a representative pushes you to repurchase, ask them to apply the guarantee directly.
The price that counts is the one on the checkout screen, not what a representative says on the phone. Always read the full total carefully before entering payment, even during a high-stress, last-minute purchase. If a quoted price and the charged amount differ significantly, document the conversation and dispute the charge with your credit card company right away.
Yes. If you were charged an amount you did not agree to, contact your credit card company promptly to dispute the charge. Keep both order numbers and the details of every conversation with the platform. A clear paper trail strengthens your dispute and is exactly what consumer advocates need to help resolve a case.
Be cautious. If a platform guarantees your purchase, the burden of providing replacements should fall on the platform, not on you. Buying new tickets yourself can leave you exposed if the price is unclear or the refund is delayed. Insist the platform deliver guaranteed replacements directly, and read any checkout screen in full before paying.
If regular customer service does not help, escalate in writing to a company executive. Send a brief, polite email that outlines the facts and includes your paper trail. Elliott Advocacy publishes executive contacts. Understanding how the consumer complaint process works can help you build an effective case.
A complete record of both order numbers, the checkout screens, and every conversation establishes exactly what was promised and what was charged. Travelers and fans who keep detailed documentation and contact their credit card company quickly are in a far stronger position to win a refund when a resale platform fails to deliver.
What is StubHub’s FanProtect Guarantee?
What should happen if my StubHub tickets never arrive?
What if a StubHub rep quotes one price but I’m charged more?
Can I dispute a wrong StubHub charge with my credit card?
Should I buy replacement tickets myself if mine don’t show up?
How do I escalate a StubHub complaint that customer service won’t fix?
Why is documentation important in a ticket dispute?
