Ticketmaster Responds To Backlash After Refund Policy Change

It’s no secret that the coronavirus pandemic has hit the live event industry hard. Thousands of concerts, music festivals and large events have been cancelled or postponed, and as the United States continues to grapple with containing the coronavirus, there is no clear answer on when tours and festivals will be able to resume. As the live music industry copes with the financial downfall, it appears Ticketmaster quietly made changes to its refund policy regarding shows and events that have been postponed or cancelled.

According to Digital Music News, the ticketing giant’s refund page previously read: “refunds are available if your event is postponed, rescheduled or canceled” with an added note that there is an exception for MLB and U.S. Open events. Now, the page states “refunds are available if your event is canceled,” removing any mention of refunds for postponed or rescheduled shows.

After receiving backlash from fans, Ticketmaster issued a statement regarding refunds via Twitter. The statement reads:

Ticketmaster serves as the sales platform for event organizers worldwide. Our standard practice is for clients to hold the cash from their ticket sales. Clients using our platform also retain the ability to set individual policies for their postponed or rescheduled events.

Typically, event organizers have had the flexibility to offer refunds for virtually all postponed and rescheduled events. However, the unprecedented volume of over 30,000 events impacted to date, coupled with continued uncertainty over setting new dates while awaiting clearance from regional governments, has led to event organizers needing additional time to reschedule their events before deciding to offer refund options.

As of today, over 11,000 events, including over 4,000 postponed sports, concerts and arts events, have already authorized refunds. While we cannot guarantee all event organizers will offer refunds on their rescheduled events, we anticipate the vast majority will make a refund window available once new dates have been determined. In addition, Ticketmaster continues to issue refunds for all canceled events.

The entire Ticketmaster team is working from home and doing its best to respond to all fans and clients. We will continue to keep fans up to date on the status of events via email and via our Covid-19 event portal.

Fans all over are upset that their money is tied up in previously purchased tickets and many have been unable to receive refunds.

An update on questions about event refunds.

We will continue to keep fans up to date on the status of events via email and our Covid-19 event portals.

US: https://t.co/hh1FGeQHRr
Canada: https://t.co/h2RcwY42qp pic.twitter.com/nKfrxgbf11

— Ticketmaster (@Ticketmaster) April 15, 2020