StubHub- do not trust!

Amie123

I recently purchased tickets for the Liverpool v Everton game in January via StubHub. They were a present for my boyfriend for Christmas and not being a massive football fan I wasn't aware of the dynamics in selling/ reselling tickets. I paid nearly €400 for two tickets which claimed to be in the short side lower tier (on their website it actually allowed me to click on seats 106 which were located in the front row of the Kop). I also paid for flights and accommodation for the weekend as we were travelling from Ireland. All in the trip cost me approx €1,000 if not more.
The days leading up to the match I was beginning to get anxious as I still hadn't received my 'tickets' via post. When I emailed StubHub, they assured me the will reach me via tracking post 48hrs beforehand. Time passed and I still hadn't received my tickets. They informed me again that because tickets are printed very close to the match that it will be the day before but not to worry. Bearing in mind that I paid for postage in the original price I was informed the night before the match that I would have to pick them up myself in Liverpool. Although this wasn't ideal I wasn't too annoyed.
When I picked up my 'tickets' they came in a white envelope with my name on the front. When I opened the envelope there were two member's passes, a card detailing my seats and a letter stating that this method of purchasing tickets was 'frowned upon' and under no circumstances to bring this letter to the game with me, that I was to pretend to be the person on the card (who was male) and not to mention how I got the tickets.
As you can imagine I was so confused, not to mention severely suspicious and didn't know what to do. Honestly I was panicking at this stage.
To cut a long story short, the seats I purchased where in the second last row of the main stand. They could not have been further away. I was absolutely fuming.
I have been in contact with StubHub since but now they have stopped responding to my emails. I'm sure this is because they are aware of the fact that they blatantly ripped me off. I paid for postage which never occured and I paid almost €400 for the worst seats in the place. They asked me for photos of the tickets I received which I don't see the point of because member's cards don't show details of the seats you received and I also had to hand them back as they didn't belong to me. I do have however the card that came with them stating my seat and row number, game, etc. Since hearing this information they refuse to reply to my emails.
How can they get away with this?

dudara

Moved from Feedback to the Consumer Issues forum

dudara

dudara

I've used StubHub in the past for NFL games in the US and it's worked really well, and I've gotten exactly the seats that I chose.

If they won't engage with you, I'd contact your bank about a chargeback, as you did not receive the goods/service that you paid for.

circular flexing

dudara wrote: »

I've used StubHub in the past for NFL games in the US and it's worked really well, and I've gotten exactly the seats that I chose.

In the US, Stubhub are the official resale partner of a lot of sports teams. It sounds like they are not a resale partner for Liverpool FC.

dudara

I don’t think being a resale partner really matters here. The OP did not get what she purchased, that is clear. If StubHub won’t engage, then I’d start looking at other avenues.

Vic_08

dudara wrote: »

I don’t think being a resale partner really matters here. The OP did not get what she purchased, that is clear. If StubHub won’t engage, then I’d start looking at other avenues.

Being an official partner matters very much, at least in that case the venue will have authorised the site to sell tickets and there will be some oversight of the market instead of the black-market nature of these sites for most events in the UK.

If you don't know what you are talking about (and you don't) then maybe it is better you don't say anything at all.

All these ticket reseller sites such as Get Me In, Seatwave, Viagogo and StubHub are little more than a glossy front for touts. They are run by big corporations such as ebay and Ticketmaster who know exactly what they are doing and that is facilitating and profiting from touts, scalpers and outright scammers. This is their business model, they deny it but the evidence is clear as day that their entire business is dodgy as fukk.

What the OP bought were season tickets which are expressly forbidden to sell on to anyone as per the contract of sale from Liverpool to the season ticket holder. In fact with Football tickets as well as a breech of contract there are criminal laws against selling on tickets in this way because it is a way of allowing persons who are banned under anti-hooligan legislation gain access to football grounds.

http://www.liverpoolfc.com/tickets/season-2017-18-season-ticket-terms-and-conditions

The club run a buyback scheme for season holders who do not want to attend specific matches but the max they will be paid is £45. Genuine fans do this as it ensures the seats get resold at face value to other fans. Professional touts and scammers are the ones that sell them on the likes of StubHub for 10 times the face value.


These sites are a regular feature on consumer rights platforms such as BBC Watchdog.

OP You can try a chargeback via your credit card company/bank, I suspect that StubHub are well used to this tactic and will dispute it, as you did actually get and use the tickets you are on shaky ground.

A small claims court motion might succeed but you would probably have to apply in England so may not be worth it.

I would say if you don't get anywhere with the site then you should contact the above BBC programme. They feature these sites almost every year so no doubt they have a file of complaints stored up for another report, publicity is often a better way of getting results from these companies than any other. It is possible they won't deal with you because you are not a British licence payer or they may like the overseas visitor ripped off angle.

Sadly you have learned a harsh lesson about these sites, ticket touting has always been a scumbags business and just because it is done on a respectable looking website run by a big company it is no less of a shark tank for the unwary.

Rule of thumb is that if tickets are being offered at multiples of their original selling price then at best you are dealing with a rip-off merchant and at worst an out and out crook.