Walt Disney Concert Hall in Downtown Los Angeles, home base for the LA Philharmonic (Photo: Monica Volpin)
It was a rough weekend for classical aficionados in Los Angeles, thanks to an unfortunate meltdown involving StubHub secondary tickets. The issue, which may have been the result of a coordinated scam, resulted in the same tickets being sold to multiple different buyers.
The result: a crowd of LA Philharmonic buyers were turned away despite holding StubHub-purchased tickets — while being told that people had already claimed their seats. According to those running the box office and ticketing at Disney Concert Hall in Downtown Los Angeles, the issue was a recurring theme all night, with potentially dozens of concertgoers left in the lurch.
That included me: after StubHub informed me that my tickets had already been claimed and people were sitting in my seats, I scrambled to purchase a last-minute ticket. Others weren’t so lucky.
The LA Phil’s performance — which included a Mozart Piano Concerto and the work of early-20th-century composer Nielsen — continued throughout the weekend. It’s unclear if the problem was resolved for the other shows.
StubHub offered to refund my original purchase ‘within 5-8 business days,’ and subsequently emailed that the issue was ‘under review’. A StubHub representative also offered to look into the situation, though others experiencing StubHub issues have reported struggles getting refunds on problematic tickets. For many, a refund simply isn’t enough — if it arrives.
(The ‘under review’ status for refunds seems to be a common point of frustration, with delays lasting weeks or even months — if the money is returned at all).
Just recently, Irish and Scottish authorities warned of large-scale scams involving Oasis tickets sold by Ticketmaster. Those scams also involved tickets that didn’t exist, with fans being bilked of “large sums of money” after purchasing advance tickets or last-minute tickets that did not exist.
Similar problems have plagued Oasis tickets in North America, which prompted an ugly war-of-words between Ticketmaster and StubHub over the source of fake or ‘phantom’ tickets. After getting jabbed for offering fake tickets, StubHub quickly accused both Live Nation and Ticketmaster (as well as the National Independent Venue Association) of “partnering to spread false information about ticket availability in an attempt to further their own policy agenda and create distrust in the secondary market.”
“Oasis tickets were offered for sale on StubHub immediately after the North American dates and venues were announced, before any on-sale, and before anyone had rights to particular seats – as the listings explicitly claimed,” the ticketing giant blasted.
Just last month, StubHub hackers were busted after scamming $600,000 worth of fake Taylor Swift tickets. The massive heist, which involved over 900 tickets, was the result of an inside job.
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StubHub Phantom Ticketing Scam Leaves Dozens of LA Philharmonic Ticket Buyers In the Lurch – Digital Music News
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