Action 9 helps customer get StubHub refund despite policy change

Alyssa Sherrin wanted to take her boyfriend to Houston for an Astros baseball game for his 26th birthday.

“I mean we were pumped. Texas is actually where he’s from and he hasn’t been to Texas in the last five years,” she said. “I was so excited to give that to him.”

She went on StubHub and bought good tickets, costing more than $500 total.

At the time, StubHub’s policy was: if the game is canceled, Sherrin could get all of her money back.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Major League baseball canceled the game and StubHub changed its policy. It started giving credit instead: a voucher worth 120% the ticket price.

StubHub is taking a lot heat over the policy change, and it’s led to lawsuits.

“As a marketplace, we act as an intermediary for buyers and sellers. In normal times, we’ve made the decision to refund buyers before collecting money from the seller to offer buyers more convenience. And under normal circumstances, this works well, even with StubHub taking the risk of timing delays and some losses when we are unable to collect from the seller. With the coronavirus impacting so many events and the associated magnitude of challenge in recouping monies owed by sellers over the coming months, it is currently impossible for us to offer immediate cash refunds to all buyers,” StubHub told Action 9′s Jason Stoogenke.

“When the volume of cancellations accelerated a few months ago, we were the first in our industry to offer a credit worth 120% of the ticket value. This is now our default option in Canada and in the U.S. Outside of the U.S. and Canada, fans are defaulted to a refund. Due to the exceptional circumstances the music and sport industries are currently facing, some refunds may take a little longer than normal to process. We greatly appreciate our community’s patience and understanding during this extraordinary time,” the company added.

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“I don’t want a $600 voucher. I want my money back,” Sherrin told Stoogenke. Especially, she said, because she was furloughed. “So I decided to contact you guys.”

Action 9 emailed StubHub and -- about two weeks later -- the company agreed to give Sherrin a full refund. It didn’t say why it made the exception.

“I feel so relieved, I mean, that’s a lot of money and that’s a big deal,” she said. “Having that money back on that card is amazing. It’s great.”

Cox Media Group