Every day it seems as if another live event is either canceled or postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. While many shows and events are canceled for this year, some have been postponed to 2021. As a result, ticket sellers like Ticketmaster are responsible for refunding customers their hard-earned money. Within the past week or so, Ticketmaster has swiftly changed its refund policy due to the magnitude of dropped events. The edits to the refund policy have left fans outraged, including U.S. Congresswoman Katie Porter.
“I applaud Ticketmaster for continuing to shine in what is apparently a competition to provide the worst customer service in any industry”
Congresswoman Porter took to Twitter to share her disapproval of Ticketmaster’s actions during our ongoing crisis. Her tweet directly accuses Ticketmaster of “taking advantage of a crisis to line their pockets”. After just a day, the tweet has earned over 50,000 likes and 1,000 replies of those in agreement. Ticketmaster issued a statement soon after, stating that their refund policy has stayed unchanged. However, there are screenshots of their policy clearing showing their stance on postponed or rescheduled events.
All in all, Ticketmaster is not the only one refusing to refund customers for postponed and rescheduled events. Many other major ticket sellers and event organizers have also restricted refunds. In our global pandemic, people need the money they used for purchasing tickets, especially since we do not really know how soon these postponed shows will be able to safely happen. Going forward, it might be better if events simply canceled rather than postponing so that fans could receive refunds.
Take a look at U.S. Congresswoman Katie Porter’s tweet below: