A user on TikTok has sparked discussion after claiming that StubHub charged her almost $800 after she tried to sell tickets on the platform.
According to user Jenni (@jenni.barrett), she had initially purchased tickets for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour so she could see the artist with a friend. However, the friend mistakenly thought the concert was a different day. On the true date of the concert, they would be out of town.
Jenni then decided to sell the tickets on StubHub. However, while listing the tickets, she made a mistake.
“Apparently, when I listed them on StubHub, I accidentally transposed the number of the section,” she explains. This mistake would eventually cost her almost $800.
@jenni.barrett @StubHub had no problem telling me “too bad, so sad” and taking my money for an honest mistake. We all know profits aren’t hurting for them and for them to take almost $800 from a mom who begged them to give it back…incredibly cruel and greedy. Exceptions CAN be made and full refunds given. And at the end of me sobbing my eyes out, the manager literally said “Have an amaaaazing night.” 💀 I hope TikTok does it’s thing even though I’m a very small creator. #stubhub #corporategreed #fyp #foryoupage #momsoftiktok #luckygirlsyndrome ♬ original sound – Jenni
When the tickets were sold, Jenni was not paid. Instead, the ticket sale was canceled and the tickets were transferred back to her. Jenni says she did not know why this happened.
“So then today, I look at my email, and it says that my sale incurred a charge, and they had charged me $792 to my card,” Jenni reveals. “I wasn’t paid any money, so I thought, ‘oh, for sure this has to be a mistake.’”
After calling StubHub, Jenni learned that this was not a mistake and was in fact a result of her incorrect input of the section during the listing process. StubHub also said they would not be willing to refund the penalty.
“They didn’t care at all,” Jenni recalls. “They didn’t care that I was a human that accidentally made a mistake…Now, I have this charge incurred that I can’t get rid of.”
“I just want StubHub to make it right,” she concludes.
In the text overlaying the video, she adds, “I’m a mom of 2 kids, one who’s birthday is next month. Everything is so expensive right now and it feels like we can’t get ahead no matter what we do, and now that $792 is just gone.”
Some users in comments speculated as to how this may have happened.
In short, it seems that this policy is buried in StubHub’s terms.
StubHub’s “FanProtect” Guarantee says that the site will “go out of our way to find replacement tickets if there is an issue with your order.”
In their terms, StubHub refers to a seller’s inability to provide the ticket stated in their listing as a “dropped sale.” A section in the Seller Policies lays out how the company deals with dropped sales.
“If you dropped your sale, we will charge your payment method an amount equal to the greater of (i) 100% of the price of the ticket(s) sold or (ii) the full amount incurred by us to remedy the dropped sale, including but not limited to, a late shipment fee or late delivery fee, reprinting fee, shipping re-routing charges, the cost of replacement tickets or related passes, coupons, gift certificates, refunds, and other costs required to compensate the Buyer or Seller for his or her bad experience,” state the terms.
It is possible that Jenni’s charge was a result of this clause.
Still, users on TikTok were upset with StubHub, with many users claiming that Jenni should be refunded the charge. Some even claimed that they had been in a similar situation.
“Same thing happened to me. I even tried to correct the error as it was happening. I even spoke to support and they told me I wouldn’t be charged fees, but alas I was. And there’s no recourse,” alleged one commenter.
Numerous users tagged StubHub in the comment section in hopes of a response.
“@stubhub what’s wrong with you all? Fix your company,” stated a commenter.
“@stubhub sounds like extortion to me,” added another.
“@stubhub fix this before this blows up,” wrote a third.
The Daily Dot reached out to StubHub via email and Jenni via Instagram and Facebook DM.
Update 10:49am CT January 19: In an Facebook DM conversation with the Daily Dot, Jenni stated, “In my opinion, the way they have the site setup to list tickets for sale is very confusing and I would bet that quite a lot of people make this mistake.“
While she admitted that the mistake was her fault, “my situation really just brings to light how many people are likely effected by this.”
That said, there is a happy update to this story: Jenni has been offered a one-time exception to the policy and been offered a full refund.
She detailed the refund in a follow-up video.
@jenni.barrett #stitch with @jenni.barrett I’m grateful for the resolution and full refund, but I am so sad that it took this level of publicity for a company to have empathy. Caitlin at StubHub was very sweet and helpful. I doubt anything would have been resolved if Brandon @The Daily Dot hadn’t been so kind to reach out to them and write his article. The smallest amount of empathy goes so far. #stubhub #fyp #foryoupage ♬ original sound – Jenni
“I’m grateful for the resolution and full refund, but I am so sad that it took this level of publicity for a company to have empathy. Caitlin at StubHub was very sweet and helpful,” she wrote in the video’s caption. “The smallest amount of empathy goes so far.”
