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Beijing Olympics ticket lawsuit: Broker seeks $6 million in damages from RazorGator

By Alfred Branch Jr.

(The second paragraph in this story was edited at 9:28am EST Tuesday, September 15, 2009, to reflect Andrew Hentrich claimed he was not paid several hundred thousand dollars by RazorGator in connection with Beijing Olympics tickets.)

The legal wrangling between RazorGator and Texas ticket broker Andrew Hentrich, over alleged non-payment for Beijing Olympics tickets Hentrich acquired for RazorGator, continues to fester.

Hentrich sued RazorGator last fall, claiming the company had not paid him several hundred thousand dollars in connection with thousands of Beijing Olympics tickets he bought for the company, for which the two parties were supposedly going to split the profits 50-50. The two parties attempted to work out a settlement but could not come to an agreement.

Now, as the two sides prepare for court in November, Hentrich has amended his complaint, stressing that the fall out over the incident has caused him to close his business, the Austin Ticket Company. He is now seeking damages in excess of $6 million. Brendan Ross, president and CEO of RazorGator, could not be reached for comment, but the company has vowed to vigorously defend itself against the claim and counter-sued.

Attempts to reach Hentrich were also unsuccessful, but in a copy of the amended complaint obtained by TicketNews, he goes into more detail about the original agreement between the two parties, shedding light on some of the behind-the-scenes dealing between RazorGator and one of its broker/clients.

Hentrich claims that a year before the Olympics, the two sides agreed that Hentrich would provide 3,906 tickets to various events at the Games, which would cost a total of $191,360. RazorGator paid that amount, but Hentrich claims the profit from those tickets totaled in excess of $400,000, for which he believes he is entitled to half, but has not received.

"This breach caused Plaintiff to lose, not only his share of the profits associated with this contract: but in conjunction with intentional breaches of other contracts discussed below and the intentional and malicious disparagement of the Plaintiff in the industry press and to others engaged in the business did such harm to him financially and to his reputation that he lost his business and has been forced to close his storefront in Austin, Texas," the amended complaint stated. "In return for securing the tickets Plaintiff was to receive half of the profits for the sale of these tickets. Plaintiff never received his share of the profits. This harm was done intentionally and with malice."

By the summer of 2008, RazorGator allegedly oversold its Olympics ticket orders, Hentrich claimed, and the company came back to him in need of 1,460 more tickets. He claimed he obtained most of them, but RazorGator asked him to go to China to obtain more than 400 remaining tickets to fill their orders.

Part of the issue between Hentrich and RazorGator is that some of the alleged agreements between the two parties were made verbally, and Hentrich claimed that promises of payment never materialized. In addition, Hentrich claimed he was allegedly defamed by former RazorGator executive Jeff Lapin and current executive Stephen Cucci in statements the two separately made that supposedly helped to ruin Hentrich's business.

In a statement published in TicketNews last fall, Lapin said, "RazorGator has been partnering with independent ticket vendors across the country for many years. We only maintain relationships with partners who share our commitment to providing our customers with a 100 percent guarantee for any products purchased from RazorGator. Mr. Hentrich has not lived up to that commitment in his relationship with RazorGator."

While in China, Hentrich worked with RazorGator employees, and he claimed he never heard a complaint about his services. Hentrich also claimed that he was verbally promised a bonus of at least $50,000 for the work he did to obtain tickets for the company.

In addition, Hentrich claimed that RazorGator allegedly tried to undercut some of his efforts by selling tickets to prized clients at less than what the tickets cost Hentrich to acquire.

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Anonymous's picture
 

Andrew Hentrich's picture
Andrew Hentrich (not verified)

Anyone who wants to say they got "screwed" by me or my company or wants to say that I have been "less than honorable" should not hide behind anonymous comments. If you do you have ZERO credibility.

SM's picture
SM (not verified)

I think the people that are owed money from andrew due to this deal should ask why they arent getting paid. I would venture a guess that if he got paid you would get paid also. I have known Andrew for 15 years and worked for him for 3-4. He's an honest guy who is stuck in between doing what he has done since I have known him...filling his order...and trusting someone who was supposed to be his friend.

Again for all these people that are saying that Andrew owes them money from this deal....go talk to Razorgator.

Anonymous's picture
Anonymous (not verified)

I sell over $500K/year in tickets to RG and there's never been an issue with payables. Would I prefer getting paid within 10 days net purchase? Of course, who wouldn't? But I am not worried about the money because they have always been good for it. I don't generally take the time to write any comments on this website because I'm not telling anyone anything they don't know already, but I felt the need to step up on behalf of RG because I value them as a customer and they have always been fair to me and my employees. I wish them luck!

PS: No I don't work at RG & was not paid to say this.

Anonymous's picture
Anonymous (not verified)

Though i don't know anything about this claim, i do know that Razorgator is always out to shortchange any ticket broker. They are what ruins the honest brokers reputation. I have had several dealings with Razorgator and they are always late with payments, and have raised prices on their tickets after committing to a price on the phone and i don't trust them at all...I hope they lose the lawsuit...

Anonymous's picture
Anonymous (not verified)

I had almost forgotten about Andrew.

Obviously, none of us on the outside know what transpired between the parties in this particular case and while I'm not a huge RG fan, I can speak from personal experience that Andrew has been less than honorable in my dealings with him. My company ended up walking away from a large chunk of money that Andrew owed us and should have paid. The universe and karma are a B**** Andrew. I hope you don't collect a dime.

Anonymous's picture
Anonymous (not verified)

Obviously this broker bit off more than he could chew and is trying to blame Razorgator for the current economic crisis. I don't know if he reads the papers or watches the news, but a lot of companies who haven't worked with Razorgator have closed shop because TIMES ARE TOUGH...deal with it!

Anonymous's picture
Anonymous (not verified)

This was well before the economic crisis and Andrew filled for RZ. He didnt bite off more than he could chew...he didnt take the orders. Think before you speak.

Anonymous's picture
Anonymous (not verified)

Its about time the small guy stops getting pushed around by the big man. Hentritch is a good guy who was only trying to help out, good luck andrew your a class act and shouldnt be treated like a hobo.

Mr. PurpLe's picture
Mr. PurpLe (not verified)

No one should lose their store because a congLomerate decides to dishonor their obLigations. Atexas, I hope your recovery is full and rapid.

Anonymous's picture
Anonymous (not verified)

Unfortunately this kind of behavior is not suprising from RazorGator. They've been loose with other people's money for years.

The answer is to not do business with them as there are plenty of other legitimate options for the industry. Let our dollars do the talking.

Anonymous's picture
Anonymous (not verified)

Although I am a broker, by necessity and not by choice, I have yet to come in contact with a broker (fine word for scalper) who is totally honest. This business is very cut-throat, almost literally. Sometimes I feel I am dealing with the mafia, to hear some brokers talk. We keep eliminating brokers from our website for various reasons: they owe us money, they pretend they forgot, they claim the "ownership" has changed, they use foul language in a normal conversation, they answer the phone with "Wo'", they always have an answering machine during prime time, and to make matters worse, they do not return your phone call, they do not remove their inventory on the day of the event and they just go home while our customers are calling us for their tickets because they are still seeing them on our website, they continuously buy in our market while living across the country, and continuously undercut our prices no matter how low we go, it's like a game to them, but we're not in elementary school any more... and the biggest beef: they lie and cheat and try to get our customers behind our backs. Without naming names of "established" and "reputable" brokers, I know for a fact that one such broker places his business card in the envelope of every ticket we purchase from them, even if it is going to our client, so we are forced to have everything shipped to our office before sending them out, and if we send a courier, we tell the courier to open the envelope and trash the additional material before taking the tickets to our client in a fresh envelope. These brokers have even gone to the venue itself and approached our clients handing them their card and promising better seats with better prices. As for sending them our tickets on consignment, it is another thing they just love to "forget" paying us for.

Unfortunately for us, we come from ethical professions and we all have college degrees, which apparently is not needed in this business.

Once RG would not sell us some tickets they had posted, claiming they had been sold. When the tickets kept showing on their website, we called them again and they confirmed that they were not on hold, that they had definitely been sold. After searching for similar tickets and not finding them, we resorted to buying RG's same seats off StubHub. We paid a little more, but we ended up getting the tickets without a hassle. They were the exact same seats.

Have had a lot of trouble with StubHub on various issues, but who hasn't. Have even purchased TicketFast tickets from them that were duplicates and our client could not get into a big sold out game. This happens often with StubHub, although they will not admit it. We tried to help them in this area, but were told we would get sued for libel if we said anything else about it. Like Rhett Butler said in "Gone With the Wind"... frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.

If you're talking to a broker, don't trust him. Worse than a car salesman, if that is possible.

Anonymous's picture
Anonymous (not verified)

While I agree with you on almost everything you posted. Yeah I agree there are some very dishonest brokers out they. Answer as woo our yeah. How professional is that? Had several LIE and say in hand and not the case or they ship when they feel like it. Many have squatted in other markets and have ruined them for everyone in that market. Lie, spec, sell below face value, makes it difficult to buy from a real season ticket holder in the area as they undercut the Sh*& out of things. We too have also blocked the slime that have tarnish our reputation with their crappy service. These seem to be the one's who like to change their business name every few years. Why so to deceive the consumer even more? When we have experienced some of the horrible service some brokers provide, it is not wonder why the government wants to regulate the industry. Stubhub Ticketnetwork and EI do not care who they sign up as all they are concerned about is the dollar, f&*k the consumer, which is why TN and TM are so hated. RG has been a slow pay to pay us, yet they are part of that inner broker circle that runs NATB. While there is a lot of lousy brokers out there, there are some that are HONEST and REPUTABLE out there. Those are the ones you can guarantee they will not screw you or the customer. Broker to broker is a shame. Have dealt with some pretty rude cusses from NY, NJ, CT, TX, CO, seem to be problem areas. A wonder why the consumers in your area buy from us. Andrew and his business has screwed us as well. But would like to know who the broker that drops his cards into envelopes, so we know not to do business with them. Name names.

Anonymous's picture
Anonymous (not verified)

I dont know who you think you are but your not a broker. Your comments are not honest, you may find a few dishonest brokers but not that many. If your having trouble with brokers switch to NATB brokers only. They are held to standards the are beyond what many software retailers require for you to sell through the exchanges. I personally have never had a problem with any major broker in the US that could not be resolved. Yes your going to run into people that just bought software to post tickets but you should still check out who your buying tickets from.
As far as Austin Ticket Company is concerned go Andrew. I have never had a problem with him. We write orders with him every year for different events and he has always delivered as promised. RG had to fill orders they oversold he was obligated to sell them a certain amount of tickets and he delivered. Then the commissioned him to procure more tickets. Which he did. He filled his end they need to fill theirs. It also didn't help that Sam wasnt at RG when this happened or they wouldnt of tried to screw Him.

Anonymous's picture
Anonymous (not verified)

How come he knows so much about what is going on in the business...
Besides, just belonging to the NATB does not make someone an angel.
It just means you can afford to dish out hundreds of dollars to gain credibility.

Anonymous's picture
Anonymous (not verified)

Well Sam is back at Razorgator and the problem still isnt solved....

Anonymous's picture
Anonymous (not verified)

So does the fact that "Sam" is back make things honest? Please! I worked in the same market that Sam came from and when he came into town, his main goal was to run every existing broker out of business. He tried to make a ticket deal with some of them, but when they checked with each other, these brokers found that he had told each broker a different story on the same "deal" they were all supposed to participate in equally. He also threatened buyers and sellers to buy and sell ONLY from him and to him, and no one else. Thus blocking other brokers from purchasing tickets from certain outlets and venues. Many stories.

SM's picture
SM (not verified)

Didnt mean to imply that at all. Actually quite the opposite.

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