A Florida wrestling fan tried to score tickets to the WWE Holiday Tour on StubHub. However, she realized she may have been tricked when she arrived at the venue.
TikToker Shalin (@shalinfighter) says she waited until the untelevised Jacksonville, Fla., WWE event started before she bought her tickets.
“The show started at 7, so I waited until 7 to get the tickets,” she says. Shalin purchases two floor seats for $65, which she says is a rare deal for the highly coveted spots.
After she purchased the tickets, she says she followed the directions she received from StubHub via email to access them. The app, she says, transferred her to Ticketmaster, where the reseller initially purchased the tickets, to claim them.
“When I accept the transfer at Ticketmaster, I’m getting an error message,” she continues. “As I’m walking to the arena from my vehicle, I’m still trying to move this ticket over.”
When the error message kept popping up at 7:30pm, she notes she decided to call StubHub.
What Did StubHub Tell Her On The Phone?
Shalin says she got on the phone with a customer service worker, who asked her to send her screenshots of the error message.
“She didn’t understand what I was trying to say,” she says. “She kept putting me on several holds. Our call gets dropped. I have to re-call StubHub again.”
The TikToker says she was growing frustrated as she missed more and more of the event. The call with the second customer service worker drops, too.
“I call back, and I say, ‘Listen, at this point I’ve already missed the first hour of the event. Can you help me, or can you not help me?'” Shalin recounts.
By 8:30pm, the situation still hadn’t resolved. So, she asked for a refund.
“They tell me they have to escalate the issue to some internal department,” she says. “I have to wait 72 hours for them to render a decision.”
She says she asked for a manager to speak to her on the phone but says he told her the same thing as the previous customer service worker.
“I feel like I have been scammed. I feel like someone sold me fraudulent tickets,” she continues. Shalin says the manager empathized with her but insisted that she had to wait 72 hours.
The TikToker says she will not use StubHub to purchase resale tickets again.
In an email to BroBible, a StubHub spokesperson says the company sent the TikToker a full refund under the resale platform’s FanProtect Guarantee and a courtesy voucher for the inconvenience.
“We regret the frustration this customer experienced and understand how disappointing it is to miss an event. The customer’s tickets were delivered on time, however she encountered an error when accessing them through Ticketmaster’s platform,” the spokesperson writes.
The statement continues, “Our team provided guidance and advised she contact Ticketmaster directly to resolve the issue. We apologize for the inconvenience and remain committed to supporting fans.”
What Is StubHub’s Refund Policy?
StubHub offers a generous 120% credit to users’ in-app wallets in the event of a non-rescheduled, cancelled event.
For ticket issues, the ticket resale platform guarantees that it will find users equivalent or better seats at no additional cost. If the attendee isn’t happy with the replacement seats available, they will offer a full refund.
In Shalin’s case, where tickets aren’t accessible or are not honored at the venue, StubHub’s website notes that customers will have to submit proof.
Despite the guarantee, some customers say they feel slighted by the platform and share their experiences on Reddit.
“I was turned away from the Metallica concert in Tampa because the StubHub mobile ticket I received was “already used” (scanned at 5:02 PM, gates opened then),” one poster shared on the r/StubHub subreddit. The customer said that StubHub pushed back on providing a refund and required “proof” that the venue rejected their ticket.
Another responded, “Just happened to me last night for Backstreet Boys.”
“I recently bought 4 seat tickets on stub hub and got sent lawn seats. At first they acted like they were going to give me my money back but never did. After two more calls they flat out wouldn’t do shit. Typical bait and switch bs,” a third added.
BroBible reached out to Shalin via TikTok direct message.