Charlotte Woman Buys Billy Joel Tickets On StubHub And Then They Disappear
The number of scams that we have to watch out for nowadays is getting out of hand! With technology, the risk is great no matter what you’re trying to buy. I bought some shoes off Amazon in March, and they still haven’t been delivered. In retrospect, I should have paid more attention to the seller as it’s in China. Luckily, if the shoes never show, I’m only out $14. A Charlotte woman was out way more money after purchasing Billy Joel tickets online.
According to WCNC, Pam Stowe purchased tickets to see Billy Joel in New York on StubHub. She was buying tickets for herself, and her two sons as a surprise. Stowe is turning 70 this year, so she thought a trip to New York to see Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden would be an awesome way to celebrate her birthday with her boys. Both her sons live in New York, so she was planning to fly up for the show.
After Stowe purchased the concert tickets, she received an email from StubHub confirming her purchase. The money was taken from her bank account, so she knew the purchase went through. Stowe spent some serious money for her tickets so that she and her sons would have good seats for the show. The three tickets cost $3,000.
After flying to New York, Stowe decided to download the tickets while with her sons to surprise them with the great seats. And that’s when she got a shock. An hour before the concert, Stowe found out the email was gone. Her son began looking through her email and couldn’t find it either.
That’s when Stowe realized an email was sent to her the day before the show, saying the seller is no longer able to provide the tickets originally purchased. WTH?! The email said she was covered by the company’s guarantee and that she’d still get tickets to the show. All of this is happening an hour before the concert! I’d freak out!
After contacting customer service, Stowe was told the tickets were likely re-sold. StubHub said the third party was at fault. How the hell can that happen if you pay for the tickets? $3,000 for tickets and a flight to New York and the tickets suddenly get hijacked?! That’s insane!
A representative from StubHub tells WCNC that ‘unopened tickets are not automatically relisted as they belong to the buyer.’ In addition, they said the incident was a ‘technology error’ and that folks should immediately open their ticket emails to prevent any issues. I totally understand why Stowe waited. If I’m going to a show, I’ll wait as well. I just want to make sure I don’t lose the tickets.
StubHub did refund the full amount of the tickets Stowe purchased and gave her a $200 credit. However, that doesn’t make up for not seeing Billy Joel live!
Although technology is great, this is the type of incident that makes me miss the old days of concerts. In the 1980’s, you’d be waiting in line for hours to snag tickets to a show, and then you’d be waiting for hours to get into the venue to secure a good spot on the floor or to grab good seats. With the advancement of technology, our lives are easier in a lot of ways, but when things like this happen, it’s a bummer!
In my opinion, seating should have been made available to Stowe for another Joel show. It’s total BS that she ended up without tickets. I feel so sorry for her and her sons! Hopefully she still had a great time spending time with her sons.
"I just had my head full of what this night was going to be like -- the kids were so excited," Pam Stowe told @MichelleBoudin. "It was a huge disappointment."https://t.co/yy76XwjIvr
— WCNC Charlotte (@wcnc) June 22, 2023
