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Joe Barrett and his fiancee fly to Paris for a Rod Stewart concert. But their e-tickets for the show never make it. Should StubHub compensate him for the missed show?
Q: I purchased tickets from StubHub for a Rod Stewart concert in Paris last year as a Christmas present for my fiancee.
StubHub was supposed to send us paper tickets just before the concert. But a few days before the tickets were supposed to arrive, I received an email from StubHub saying the seller changed the delivery method for our tickets to e-tickets.
We booked our flight from Chicago to Paris and a hotel room and arrived a few days before the show. On the day of the concert, I received another email from StubHub stating that I shouldn't worry and that our tickets would be sent to us by 3 p.m. -- three hours before the concert.
But StubHub did not deliver our concert tickets and the company said it would be refunding my purchase price for the tickets.
That was our sole reason for flying to Paris, and our trip was ruined. I contacted StubHub to see what they might do to accommodate us for ruining our trip which was based on all of their misleading promises, and StubHub simply reiterated that all they would do was refund my original purchase price for the tickets.
I think StubHub should reimburse us for our plane tickets and hotel rooms, since the concert was the reason we flew to Paris. -- Joe Barrett, Chicago
A: StubHub should have delivered your tickets as promised. It was correct to refund you for your purchase. But should it also cover your expenses? A look at StubHub's Global User Agreement reveals the unfortunate answer. It notes that it is not liable for "any special, indirect, or consequential damages" related to your ticket purchase. In other words, it is not responsible for your airline tickets and hotel rooms.
Of course, that's what its lawyers say. That's the contract you agreed to when you bought your tickets through StubHub. But that's not necessarily the right thing. And while they don't wanna talk about it, I think we should. (Yes, Rod Stewart fans -- I'm going to be including lots of song titles in this story, so get ready.)
I've reviewed the correspondence between you and StubHub. You came all the way out to Paris for the concert, and you had every reason to believe you would get the tickets by email. And then, in a scene that could be the subject of a Rod Stewart song, you were let down just a few minutes before the show. Talk about living in a broken dream!
I think StubHub could have done much better. You might have reached out to someone higher than the AI that probably answered your query. I publish the names, numbers and email addresses of StubHub's customer service managers on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org. You said you spoke with a supervisor who said emailing the executives would not help. I disagree. Still, is all lost? Nope. Stay with me for the conclusion.
I reached out to StubHub on your behalf. A representative responded directly to me.
"The seller did fail to deliver the tickets on time and was fined according to policy," she told me. "However, we did find that the situation was not escalated properly by customer service when the tickets weren't delivered on time."
StubHub said the company offered replacement tickets the day of the event, but unfortunately, available were not in the same tier as your original purchase, and you declined these tickets in favor of a refund. I asked you about that and you said you had purchased seats in the first row. "The only seats available when StubHub offered replacement seats for the sold-out concert were way in the back of the theater," you told me.
StubHub apologized for its failure to deliver the tickets and offered an $864 credit, which should cover the cost of attending another upcoming Rod Stewart concert.
Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy (https://elliottadvocacy.org), a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at chris@elliott.org or get help by contacting him at https://elliottadvocacy.org/help/
