This week, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a complaint and stipulated judgment was filed against StubHub for violating state laws regarding ticket sales. StubHub is expected to pay $20 million in consumer restitution.
KNX’s Karen Adams spoke to Kevin Erickson, director of the Future of Music Coalition, to learn more about the allegations against StubHub. According to the attorney general’s office, the company failed to honor its policy of providing full cash refunds to California consumers for canceled events during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s just deceptive. It contributes to the problem with high prices and shortages in tickets,” said Erickson of StubHub, one of the largest online ticket marketplaces. “And, you know, we’ve seen in the international context – other countries have banned that practice outright.”
StubHub even made this “FanProtect Guarantee” promise for cash refunds part of its marketing campaigns. Yet, instead of giving cash refunds when the pandemic hit in March 2020 and events were canceled en-masse, StubHub issued consumers 120% credit for future events, per the AG’s office.
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The California Department of Justice began an investigation into the matter, and StubHub eventually reversed its decision in May 2021.
“By failing to issue full cash refunds for canceled events during the pandemic, StubHub not only violated its advertised policy but also violated the trust of its consumers,” Bonta said.
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