The idea of StubHub and other ticketing sites is great. I remember going to Wrigley Field in my 20’s without tickets and there being a guy holding what looked like 100 tickets selling them outside a ticket broker’s office. Buying them was the ultimate low information activity and felt a little sketchy.
Buying on resell sites feels better because you can compare prices, know what seats you are getting and never have to talk to the seller. That sounds great even if at times you end up having to spend way more than you want to in order to get in to the event.
The World Cup is here and FIFA is charging insane prices for these games. It appears a lot of people bought tickets with the hope of selling them for more money and they were right. There are rumors that FIFA actually gave a lot of their inventory to re-sell sites too. Getting into the US game this Friday will cost you more than a Final Four or World Series ticket. Yay capitalism.
The problem with the World Cup is that the only place to get guaranteed tickets is from the FIFA re-sale site. Their site sucks. It is not user friendly at all and you have to pay a 15% fee whether you are buying or selling.
So a lot of people are going to sites like Stubhub for tickets. Many of them do it because they promote a “fan guarantee” that if your seller does not deliver tickets they will get you comparable or better tickets. The problem with that is it never seems to happen and their fine print allows them to simply just refund you. Of course that does not happen usually until the last minute. This happened to me last year when trying to purchase tickets for a concert. I could not get a refund until an hour before the event started.
But the problem with the World Cup sounds insane. Here is a sample of complaints I’ve seen lately.
And here is one where a buyer had to get on a flight without tickets being delivered. Do you want to go to Houston in June without being there for an event? Neither do I.
There are hundreds of other horror stories with Stubhub and it’s not unique to the World Cup. A good friend had hockey playoff tickets until he did not. No replacement tickets given. And there’s this one below from the NCAA tournament.
So What Can You Do About Stubhub Screwing You Over?
What is your recourse if this happens to you. This person has an idea that will never happen.
I’m beyond sympathetic, but the reality is that when you sign up for Stubhub or these other ticketing sites, you agree to their terms of service. As part of that, you agree, whether you realize or not, to resolve all disputes via arbitration and waive your right to be a part of a class action lawsuit.
This is gross, but not unique to them. In fact, most companies you deal with have these clauses. Plainly speaking, suing as a consumer on a class action basis is often impossible.
There ought to be a law that prevents these clauses, but the truth is that the republicans in the Bush administration made it happen and democrats haven’t done anything about it when they have gotten power. It is the number one way that companies get away with nonsense. And it prevents them from fixing problems or actually having a real “fan protect” guarantee.
So if you are looking for tickets, it is buyer beware! And that includes any thought about suing Stubhub if things go sideways.
