CHARLOTTE, N.C. — With tickets to see Taylor Swift, Beyonce and more so hard to get these days, a lot of people turn to StubHub and other secondary markets for tickets.
But one Charlotte woman learned the hard way, there are things you need to know when using those outlets.
Pam Stowe flew to New York and was walking into the Billy Joel concert with her kids when she learned the tickets she paid for were no longer hers.
"I saw that Billy Joel was coming to Madison Square Garden," Stowe remembers.
Stowe is turning 70 this year and thought it would be fun to celebrate with her two sons who live in New York City.
"I thought, I'm going to surprise them with tickets, I have a big birthday coming up," she said. "I thought, this is a big splurge -- big splurge -- but I'm going to do it."
She admits she spent a lot of money -- $3,000 -- to get great seats.
"I was so excited I couldn’t sleep that night," Stowe said.
She got an email from StubHub confirming her order and the money was taken from her bank account.
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Stowe said she waited to download the tickets, hoping to surprise the boys with how great the seats were, and she didn’t want to take any chances.
"I'm almost 70 years old, I’m not great at technology and I thought, 'I'm going to wait and get with my kids before I open the email – the tickets,'" Stowe said.
But just an hour before Billy Joel was set to take the stage, there was an issue.
"My son starts going through my email and says, 'Mom, the tickets are gone,'" she said.
Stowe had received an email from StubHub, sent the day before the concert, saying the seller is no longer able to provide the tickets originally purchased.
"I just burst into tears," she said. "I couldn’t even talk I was so upset."
WCNC Charlotte spoke with representatives for StubHub and they said, “Less than an hour before the show, the buyer contacted customer service that she was unable to locate her tickets. After troubleshooting transferring tickets with the buyer, StubHub began the process of finding the buyer replacement tickets, given the short window to the time of the event."
Stowe said a customer service representative from StubHub told her the tickets were likely re-sold. WCNC Charlotte asked her if she was given an explanation.
"No, except that it was the third party's fault, and my son asked who the third party was they said they weren’t sure, and the tickets were probably released to Ticketmaster or another site," Stowe said.
Stowe said a customer service representative told her son on the phone that night the tickets were likely resold.
"They just hijacked our tickets in my opinion," Stowe said.
A representative from StubHub told WCNC Charlotte that “unopened tickets are not automatically relisted as they belong to the buyer.”
"If I sold you these glasses and you gave me $20, they would be yours forever to put on right now or never, they’re yours," Stowe said. "I don’t understand the concept of you buy something and it can be taken from you."
Stowe was crushed.
"I just had my head full of what this night was going to be like -- the kids were so excited," she said. "It was a huge disappointment."
StubHub representatives insist this was a technology error and told us they advise customers to immediately open emails and accept transfers of tickets as soon as possible so they have time to troubleshoot any potential issues. StubHub did refund the full amount of the tickets and gave Stowe a $200 credit.
Full statement from StubHub:
"StubHub is a marketplace connecting buyers and sellers on a secure platform – we do not buy or sell tickets. Our 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.
We advise our customers to follow the email instructions for accessing their tickets in a timely manner, in order to allow us ample time to support any issues that may arise. In this case, when there was only 30 minutes until the event, the buyer opted for a full refund, which also included a $200 credit toward a future purchase, in lieu of replacement tickets that were offered."
Contact Michelle Boudin at mboudin@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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