Marketplace.org (04/10/20) Schroeder, Alex

Thousands of ticket buyers and sellers are incensed at StubHub for suddenly revising its policies to give holders of tickets to events canceled by the coronavirus pandemic coupons instead of refunds. Last week a Wisconsin resident filed a class action lawsuit against StubHub for "reneging on its guarantee to provide cash refunds as many are seeking to get their money back for the thousands of events canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic." Until recently the firm guaranteed a 120% coupon or a refund of the original order amount, which most consumers said was a reason they bought tickets from StubHub in the first place. StubHub President Sukhinder Singh Cassidy stated in an open letter that standard operating procedures were no longer viable with the live event industry halted by the pandemic, including the policy of refunding buyers before recouping the money StubHub paid original ticket sellers. In the past, StubHub has paid sellers within a week of the tickets being purchased by someone on the marketplace, often before events. However, sellers are not being paid for sales they claim occurred before any changes to StubHub's policy were made. The firm now asserts that it will pay sellers five to eight days after events take place.

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