A man in San Francisco, CA has sued Ticketmaster over their recent refund policy change. The suit claims that the ticketing company used:
“deceptive practices relating to their sale of live events tickets and refusal to provide refunds for live events that have been rescheduled or postponed.”
The man, who had purchased nearly $600 worth of tickets to see Rage Against The Machine on their reunion tour in Oakland, CA, is seeking to represent a class action of jilted ticket holders looking for refunds to postponed shows.
The complaint reads:
“Prior to the coronavirus outbreak and at the time that Plaintiff and Class Members purchased event tickets from Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc., a division of Live Nation Entertainment Co., Ticketmaster assured customers that Ticketmaster would refund ticket purchase prices ‘if your event is postponed, rescheduled or canceled. After the coronavirus outbreak forced the cancelation or postponement of most large events and public gatherings, Ticketmaster retroactively revised its policies applicable to the prior ticket sales to allow for refunds only for canceled events, not postponed or rescheduled ones, including when postponed events are ‘indefinitely’ postponed. Yet, Live Nation’s president recently predicted that live events will not occur again until fall 2021 at the earliest.”
The complaint continues:
“With fees and costs, the four RATM tickets cost Plaintiff approximately $590. On or around March 15, Ticketmaster informed Plaintiff that, due to the coronavirus outbreak, both RATM concerts would be indefinitely ‘postponed.’ Ticketmaster, however, would not refund the total amount Plaintiff paid for the RATM concert tickets. Plaintiff now holds four tickets to two RATM concerts that have been effectively cancelled, will almost certainly be cancelled, and which he bought with a guarantee of a monetary refund for cancellation. But under Defendants’ new, post-hoc policy revisions, he will only be provided a refund if, and when, the events are officially cancelled rather than ‘postponed.’”
Ultimately, the man is looking to hold Ticketmaster accountable, seeking “damages, injunctive relief and restitution” that include forcing the company to reverse the changes made to their refund policy for tickets purchased before March 30, prohibiting them from refusing to give class members refunds on postponed or rescheduled shows and paying damages and restitution to those involved in the suit.
News of the suit comes days after Ticketmaster announced a plan giving fans the option to get a refund on postponed dates. The plan states that starting May 1, the company will provide a 30-day window for ticket holders to apply for a refund on shows that were postponed once they are rescheduled. Live Nation is also giving ticket holders the option to get a credit worth 150% of the purchased ticket’s value or donate their tickets to medical first-responders.
According to Billboard, Ticketmaster has cancelled or postponed approximately 30,000 events worth roughly $2 Billion in sales because of the COVID-19 pandemic, with another 25,000 shows still scheduled to occur throughout the rest of 2020. Some of those shows will inevitably also be cancelled or postponed and refunds for those will come on a rolling basis.
