Stubhub isn't as reliable as it used to be

[sullim4]

My dad and I are going to the Giants game this coming October.  We always purchase tickets in the club section as we only make it out to Buffalo once a year, and figure that we might as well go for nicer seats.  Today I saw a listing on Stubhub for a pair of tickets at $500-ish each.  Not cheap, but for club seats on a Sunday night, it's a pretty good deal that's not completely "too good to be true."

 

Turns out when I received the electronic transfer, the seller fat-fingered or miscategorized his listing, and the tickets were actually in the corresponding 3XX section, not the 2XX section.  This is obviously very annoying as now I am going through a rigamarole with Stubhub to prove that these are not some other random pair of tickets, and that the seller indeed sent me tickets that were worse than what I had paid for.

 

Stubhub has told me that they will replace these tickets, but they make no guarantee on where those tickets are, nor when I will receive them.  They could literally come the day of the event.  I was told I have "plenty of time" before the event and they will replace them.  That's just crazy to me as I want to be able to choose what tickets I want to buy, not be at the mercy of some bean counter at Stubhub to replace them.

 

I make a big deal out of this because this is now the second time I have been hosed by Stubhub in 3 months.  I had purchased tickets for a concert at a local winery over the Memorial Day weekend.  Stubhub never delivered the tickets.  They kept telling me to wait - literally until the day of the event - and then admitted that they couldn't give us what they promised.  I got a refund in that case, but missed the event.

 

The tl/dr: Stubhub does not verify that sellers actually hold the tickets they are selling.  Only Ticketmaster's resale system seems to be able to do that.  Do not assume that Stubhub's "Fan Guarantee" will mean you'll be happy.  I think once venues switched to mobile ticketing, it has removed resellers' ability to verify tickets and thus you're dealing with a bit of the wild west on their platform.

[Bills fan since 87]

Yeah, I used to only use stubhub but had some bad experiences the last few years as well.  Done with them.  

[Estro]

There fees over thr last 20 years have slowly risen from 10% on each side to close to 20-25% on each side.

They lobbied congress to make street scalping illegal and then became the worst scalpers of all. Very sneaky.

 

BTW, I have 4 season tickets on the 50 yard line, Bills sideline, row 40. Some of the best seats in the house. My brother and I don't make it to every game so if you're ever looking send me a message. I'll save you some money and you'll save me some money not having to absorb all those stubhub fees.

 

 

[sullim4]

6 minutes ago, Estro said:

There fees over thr last 20 years have slowly risen from 10% on each side to close to 20-25% on each side.

They lobbied congress to make street scalping illegal and then became the worst scalpers of all. Very sneaky.

 

BTW, I have 4 season tickets on the 50 yard line, Bills sideline, row 40. Some of the best seats in the house. My brother and I don't make it to every game so if you're ever looking send me a message. I'll save you some money and you'll save me some money not having to absorb all those stubhub fees.

 

 

 

Yeah... it's sort of crazy how that's all happened.  I was a bit shocked when I saw the fees this year - hundreds per ticket!  Insanity.

 

If you do end up having an extra pair for the Giants game, just let me know, I'd buy them - those are indeed great seats.  I'm not going to take the Stubhub replacement tickets.

[HOUSE]

$500 for ONE ticket ??

 

Edited August 3, 2023 by HOUSE

[Estro]

16 minutes ago, sullim4 said:

 

Yeah... it's sort of crazy how that's all happened.  I was a bit shocked when I saw the fees this year - hundreds per ticket!  Insanity.

 

If you do end up having an extra pair for the Giants game, just let me know, I'd buy them - those are indeed great seats.  I'm not going to take the Stubhub replacement tickets.

I'll have a better idea in a couple of weeks on the Giants game. My cousin is a Giants fan so we may go to that game, but it's 50/50 at this point. 

I'll know for sure in a week or 2

[Jauronimo]

36 minutes ago, HOUSE said:

$500 for ONE ticket ?

 

Just wait until you see what everything else costs.  

[RyanC883]

contest the charge with the credit card company.  Stub Hub should clearly have a record of the listing and you can then contrast it with what you were given.  

[Captain Caveman]

I bought 3 tix to the Bills preseason game, then found after the transfer that they're not in the same row.  They aren't doing a great job over there.

[Augie]

3 minutes ago, Captain Caveman said:

I bought 3 tix to the Bills preseason game, then found after the transfer that they're not in the same row.  They aren't doing a great job over there.

 

We bought Atlanta Braves tickets on-line when they moved to the new stadium near us. We got inside fine, but even the ushers had to say “I’m sorry, these seats just don’t exist.” They made up for it by taking us to the best available seats in the house!  😊 

[Bills!Win!]

I just saw 2 bills tickets on stub hub at $1500 a piece…this is why I buy from TBD members only 

Edited August 3, 2023 by Bills!Win!

[Maynard]

You are going to the wrong site. It’s called Pornhub. 

[sullim4]

18 minutes ago, RyanC883 said:

contest the charge with the credit card company.  Stub Hub should clearly have a record of the listing and you can then contrast it with what you were given.  

 

Yeah, that's the backup plan.  I have screenshots of the listing, emails showing the section number I thought I was purchasing, as well as screenshots of the "changing barcode" tickets that show the wrong section.

 

I used a Chase card for this, and I have had pretty good experiences with them when dealing with stuff like this.  In the event I can't get a refund from Stubhub in the next few weeks, that's the route I'll be taking.

[Buffalo Boy]

   I used TickPicK last year for nine seats at the Dec. Jets game and again this year for Tampa Bay.

   The last time I used StubHub I got the tickets hours before the game after some hassle. Never again.

   It is absolutely BS the way any of this Fee structure crap is allowed. Corporate Scalping

[Not at the table Karlos]

Had an issue with a seller on StubHub a year ago at a hockey game. They never sent tickets by required date. StubHub said same thing, they’ll find us other seats by the date of event.They sent us much better seats and refunded some of the fees for our inconvenience. I’ll usually use Ticketmaster or TickPick because I’ve found they’re cheaper at times but never had an issue with stub hub itself 

[RuffMuff]

I just checked my stubhub Giants Bills tickets and it took me to ticket master, logged in and downloaded the tickets and saved them to my wallet, if I go directly to my ticket master app it doesn’t show the tickets, wtf.

[Just Jack]

Last year I found tickets I was selling on TM being listed on SH, before they were even sold.  SH was grabbing the listing from TM and posting it on their site for a higher price.  If I changed my price on TM, SH would change theirs.  Always check TM to see if the same seats are listed there as SH first.  You may save some money and hassle. 

[BillsShredder83]

5 hours ago, sullim4 said:

My dad and I are going to the Giants game this coming October.  We always purchase tickets in the club section as we only make it out to Buffalo once a year, and figure that we might as well go for nicer seats.  Today I saw a listing on Stubhub for a pair of tickets at $500-ish each.  Not cheap, but for club seats on a Sunday night, it's a pretty good deal that's not completely "too good to be true."

 

Turns out when I received the electronic transfer, the seller fat-fingered or miscategorized his listing, and the tickets were actually in the corresponding 3XX section, not the 2XX section.  This is obviously very annoying as now I am going through a rigamarole with Stubhub to prove that these are not some other random pair of tickets, and that the seller indeed sent me tickets that were worse than what I had paid for.

 

Stubhub has told me that they will replace these tickets, but they make no guarantee on where those tickets are, nor when I will receive them.  They could literally come the day of the event.  I was told I have "plenty of time" before the event and they will replace them.  That's just crazy to me as I want to be able to choose what tickets I want to buy, not be at the mercy of some bean counter at Stubhub to replace them.

 

I make a big deal out of this because this is now the second time I have been hosed by Stubhub in 3 months.  I had purchased tickets for a concert at a local winery over the Memorial Day weekend.  Stubhub never delivered the tickets.  They kept telling me to wait - literally until the day of the event - and then admitted that they couldn't give us what they promised.  I got a refund in that case, but missed the event.

 

The tl/dr: Stubhub does not verify that sellers actually hold the tickets they are selling.  Only Ticketmaster's resale system seems to be able to do that.  Do not assume that Stubhub's "Fan Guarantee" will mean you'll be happy.  I think once venues switched to mobile ticketing, it has removed resellers' ability to verify tickets and thus you're dealing with a bit of the wild west on their platform.

2 words

 

CHARGE. BACK.

 

call your bank, they absolutely will not get this straightened out, and act like they did everything they could (except refund you).  basically a numbers game, if you force 10 customers to call your bluff, maybe 2 charge back. with all the fair transactions that go through they keep a low charge back rate, and merchant acct is fine. they do not care as this makes them money.

 

CHARGE-IT-BACK. these companies are s###!  if it were me, id go with the seats you have, and then charge back with your bank the next day

[BillsShredder83]

Side note: Im unsure about Bills specifically, but the "GameTime" app has been my fav ticket vendor for a while now! I forget exactly how i did it, but i added tix to my cart, and then let it time out..... 24hrs later i had an email saying "oops u forgot" and it was like 20% off. i was buying them eiother way, just got distracted... these were for Hornets tickets and NC State game last year. cant speak on NFL

[JoPoy88]

6 hours ago, Estro said:

There fees over thr last 20 years have slowly risen from 10% on each side to close to 20-25% on each side.

They lobbied congress to make street scalping illegal and then became the worst scalpers of all. Very sneaky.

 

BTW, I have 4 season tickets on the 50 yard line, Bills sideline, row 40. Some of the best seats in the house. My brother and I don't make it to every game so if you're ever looking send me a message. I'll save you some money and you'll save me some money not having to absorb all those stubhub fees.

 

 

very awesome of you estro. 🫡

[BarleyNY]

thanks for the heads up on this @sullim4

sorry about the bait and switch you’re dealing with. nice job catching it right away. I’m sure that many don’t. 

Edited August 3, 2023 by BarleyNY

[JaCrispy]

Not sure if I’m down with the fat finger shaming in this thread…😉

 

But best of luck to the OP…👍

[metbill]

I feel the same about tickets; rather pay a bit more to have them in hand early and have a concrete plan in place for the weekend as I am 17 hours away.

That being said, I use SeatGeek and pay on my Amex.  If any issues arise, AMEX is great for getting disputes taken care of, and I have not had a bad experience with SeatGeek as of yet.  

[CBD]

12 hours ago, Buffalo Boy said:

   I used TickPicK last year for nine seats at the Dec. Jets game and again this year for Tampa Bay.

   The last time I used StubHub I got the tickets hours before the game after some hassle. Never again.

   It is absolutely BS the way any of this Fee structure crap is allowed. Corporate Scalping

 

8 hours ago, BillsShredder83 said:

Side note: Im unsure about Bills specifically, but the "GameTime" app has been my fav ticket vendor for a while now! I forget exactly how i did it, but i added tix to my cart, and then let it time out..... 24hrs later i had an email saying "oops u forgot" and it was like 20% off. i was buying them eiother way, just got distracted... these were for Hornets tickets and NC State game last year. cant speak on NFL

Gametime and TickPick are my go to for tickets now. 

 

I prefer the app for Gametime and how it allows you to search for tickets. Anything I find that is interesting on Gametime I then look on TickPick. I can usually find the same tickets listed on TickPick also but for cheaper due to no fees. 

[HOUSE]

CONSUMER REPORT

Don't even bother to read the comment area, the people a whiners 

 

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/entertainment/stubhub.html

Edited August 3, 2023 by HOUSE

[corta765]

I have also found stubhub has fallen big time for the service they use to provide unfortunately and I really do not use them much anymore.

[plenzmd1]

15 hours ago, sullim4 said:

 

 

The tl/dr: Stubhub does not verify that sellers actually hold the tickets they are selling.  Only Ticketmaster's resale system seems to be able to do that.  Do not assume that Stubhub's "Fan Guarantee" will mean you'll be happy.  I think once venues switched to mobile ticketing, it has removed resellers' ability to verify tickets and thus you're dealing with a bit of the wild west on their platform.

I just listed my preseasan seats on stubhub and was surprised they did not ask for the barcode on the tickets, as they always have in the past. I think Stub and Ticketmaster now linked for NFL tickets, but gunna find out for sure and will repost here when I get an answer.

[ddaryl]

16 hours ago, Estro said:

There fees over thr last 20 years have slowly risen from 10% on each side to close to 20-25% on each side.

They lobbied congress to make street scalping illegal and then became the worst scalpers of all. Very sneaky.

 

BTW, I have 4 season tickets on the 50 yard line, Bills sideline, row 40. Some of the best seats in the house. My brother and I don't make it to every game so if you're ever looking send me a message. I'll save you some money and you'll save me some money not having to absorb all those stubhub fees.

 

 

When scalpers where making money walking the venues before games thats was illegal. Now that corporate America has its hand in the pie its OK now.

Meanwhile lots of scalpers were arrested, fined, and even handed jail sentences back in the day. Now its accepted and has been encouraged.

Follows our capitialistic society. Gambling was illegal and only accepted at Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Then just Indian tribes could have Casinos on Soveriegn land, now its a free for all.

Gambling on sports was always done in the shadows, now you can do it at the venue through a corporation

What is good for the Goose is obviously not good for the Gander.... and Stubhub should be boycotted.

[ticketssince61]

It is insane that Stubhub and TM charge fees to BOTH buyer and seller

 

With TM you used to be able to select a few sections and then see all the tix available. 

 

Now you have to select each little dot on a seat to see the prices - so hard to find seats

 

No Idea why Websites REMOVE functionality. I really believe that the website developers never actually USE their sites to see how it works for real people

 

As a side note: I have 8 seats for all Games that I usually sell - Sec 111 Row 7 and Row 14 so DM me if interested. Tix are $$$ but no fees

[zow2]

I used to buy tix on Stubhub but based on the posters experience and some others, I stopped a couple years ago.  I've had good experiences with SeatGeek and Ticketmaster.

 

As a matter of fact, I just bought 3 Bills @ Commanders tickets on SeatGeek.  The transaction was fine and I got the digital tickets.  The price and fees were painful though.  Local Washington fans cannot believe how expensive the Bills game is.   The Mafia is jacking up prices everywhere.  It's way more pricey than the home opener vs. Ariz and even more expensive than the Eagles game there (which is always sold out by Philly fans taking an easy road trip).

[Ned Flanders]

54 minutes ago, zow2 said:

As a matter of fact, I just bought 3 Bills @ Commanders tickets on SeatGeek.  The transaction was fine and I got the digital tickets.  The price and fees were painful though.  Local Washington fans cannot believe how expensive the Bills game is.   The Mafia is jacking up prices everywhere.  It's way more pricey than the home opener vs. Ariz and even more expensive than the Eagles game there (which is always sold out by Philly fans taking an easy road trip).

Yup, the Bills only come here once every eight years, so it's a hot ticket.  Listening to the local sports station the other day, WJFK, and they were talking about if the Snyder-less Commanders can win back the fans.  There was much talk that the home opener vs. Arizona will be packed with Commie fans but they conceded that the Bills game may look and sound more like Orchard Park...😆  

[Haslett_Stomp]

I bought 7 tickets to the Bills/Giants game yesterday via SeatGeek.  It was a painless transaction however as @zow2 said, the per ticket fee was pricey.

[Mr. WEO]

I've never had a problem with them.  Blame is on the seller.

[sullim4]

Just now, Mr. WEO said:

I've never had a problem with them.  Blame is on the seller.

 

I don't disagree that the blame is on the seller.

 

But, at least in "the old days", these platforms verified that sellers actually held the tickets they are trying to sell.  With the move away from paper tickets and to mobile tickets, that no longer seems to be the case.

 

I don't see why they couldn't do this - sellers could transfer tickets to the broker, who could in turn verify the ticket and then transfer it upon sale to the buyer.  Of course, that prevents multiple listings across different brokers, and requires significantly more labor.  Though, with the fees that are being charged, it would seem like a reasonable service that they could provide.

 

Essentially these platforms are as good as the sellers that are on them.  And in their current state, you have no idea who that seller is - no rating, no data on their past history, none of that.  It's as trustworthy as using PayPal to buy tickets off of a rando on Craigslist... they offer similar buyer protection.

[LABILLBACKER]

11 hours ago, metbill said:

I feel the same about tickets; rather pay a bit more to have them in hand early and have a concrete plan in place for the weekend as I am 17 hours away.

That being said, I use SeatGeek and pay on my Amex.  If any issues arise, AMEX is great for getting disputes taken care of, and I have not had a bad experience with SeatGeek as of yet.  

I also use SeatGeak and have had good success. 

[Ned Flanders]

What I use to like about StubHub was that you could indicate a max price you wanted to pay for an event and if tickets at that price or less became available, they would notify you.  That feature's been gone for years however. 

[Mr. WEO]

3 hours ago, sullim4 said:

 

I don't disagree that the blame is on the seller.

 

But, at least in "the old days", these platforms verified that sellers actually held the tickets they are trying to sell.  With the move away from paper tickets and to mobile tickets, that no longer seems to be the case.

 

I don't see why they couldn't do this - sellers could transfer tickets to the broker, who could in turn verify the ticket and then transfer it upon sale to the buyer.  Of course, that prevents multiple listings across different brokers, and requires significantly more labor.  Though, with the fees that are being charged, it would seem like a reasonable service that they could provide.

 

Essentially these platforms are as good as the sellers that are on them.  And in their current state, you have no idea who that seller is - no rating, no data on their past history, none of that.  It's as trustworthy as using PayPal to buy tickets off of a rando on Craigslist... they offer similar buyer protection.

caveat emptor has always applied in any business transaction.  Nothing new here.  
 

you had an outlier experience.  It happens.  Might as well start a thread about your ordered food arriving missing an item, or cold