ATLANTA — They purchased Taylor Swift tickets months in advance only to find out the tickets were no longer available the week of the concert.
Andy and Christy Carter paid $500 a ticket back in November on StubHub for tickets to Taylor Swift’s Friday night show at Mercedes Benz Stadium.
They gave the tickets as a surprise Christmas present to their 14- and 12-year-old girls.
“We’ve been listening to Taylor Swift every time we’re in the car,” Christy Carter said.
The tickets were supposed to be electronically delivered this week. Instead, the Carters got an email saying the tickets were no longer available.
“They told us that the seller could not provide our tickets,” Christy Carter told Channel 2 consumer investigator Justin Gray.
The Carters were offered alternate tickets behind the stage. But when they agreed to take those lesser tickets, they were told they were not available either. No tickets were available.
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“They couldn’t find the tickets. They couldn’t find the seller. And they kept pushing me to take a refund or to pay more,” Christy Carter said.
The Carters had to tell the girls they likely weren’t going.
“How do you console a 14-year-old little girl who’s been looking forward to this? That she’s been literally counting down since Christmas day,” Andy Carter said.
StubHub tells Channel 2 Action News in a statement:
“StubHub’s Fanprotect guarantee ensures that a ticket buyer will get in the door, and if any issue occurs, we’ll find an equivalent or better ticket, or provide a full refund but our priority is always to get our customers in the door.”
In this case, after multiple days and hours on the phone, StubHub did find replacement tickets after all for the Carters.
StubHub says the floor seats are a $5,000 value.
But it’s these kinds of issues that lead the Georgia General Assembly to debate legislation this last session targeting ticket resales.
“These people surreptitiously get tickets by using bots which are illegal federally,” Live Nation’s Peter Conlin testified to the Senate committee.
StubHub told Channel 2 Action News to protect against problems like the Carters experienced, they have rules for sellers.
A seller does not get paid unless a buyer receives tickets that get them in the door and StubHub’s user agreement enables StubHub to fine the seller.
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