A Ticketmaster refund tragedy that’s worthy of an opera
When Ticketmaster tells Elena Constantinescu that her opera has been canceled, it promises a refund. But the money never comes. Where is it?

Q: In February 2020, I used my Visa card to purchase three tickets to “Rigoletto” through Ticketmaster. I paid $315 for the tickets. But the event was postponed because of COVID. 

In early 2021, Ticketmaster informed me that the event had been canceled, and it promised to refund the money to my credit card. But I never received it. Can you help me get my money back? – Elena Constantinescu, Tamarac, Florida

A: Yours is a tragedy worthy of a Verdi opera. The pandemic! The promise! And the unfulfilled vow! But this should have had a decidedly un-operatic ending, at least not one like “Rigoletto.” Ticketmaster should have refunded your money quickly, as it promised. That’s more of a Hollywood ending, and we like those here, too.

I’ve seen a few cases like this with slow refunds for events that are postponed (some indefinitely). The organizers don’t want to refund your money, even though they should. Instead they keep you hanging, telling you that you will get tickets when the show gets rescheduled. The terms and conditions are pretty murky. No one ever reads the fine print when buying a concert ticket because they have every intention of making it to the show.

But was Ticketmaster really trying to keep your money? You could have reached out to an executive at Ticketmaster with your concern. I list the names, numbers and emails of the Ticketmaster executives on my consumer advocacy site Elliott.org.

I reviewed the correspondence between you and Ticketmaster. It looked as if Ticketmaster claimed to have refunded your tickets but the funds hadn’t landed in your account. I recommended that you check with your bank to see if it could find the refund. Separately, I also reached out to Ticketmaster to see if it could provide any details of your refund.

And here’s that Hollywood ending though I really can’t take credit for it: Your bank checked your account and, sure enough, Ticketmaster had refunded you as promised. Why couldn’t you find it? Ticketmaster posted the refund in early February but it didn’t show up in your account until a few days later. After you found it, you dropped your claim against the company. 

Ticketmaster did what it promised. The curtain falls on this case!

Christopher Elliott is the chief advocacy officer for Elliott Advocacy. Email him at chris@elliott.org or get help with any consumer problem by contacting him at http://www.elliott.org/help

© 2021 Christopher Elliott