Ticket resale marketplace StubHub is being sued by a New Jersey man who claims he bought a ticket from the site to see the Stone Temple Pilots, but was refused entry to the event.
Joseph Fabozzi alleges that he was not admitted to the July 26, 2011, concert at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ, because the venue said his ticket had already been used.
Fabozzi claims he contacted StubHub from the venue about the situation, but the company was unable to obtain a replacement ticket. StubHub subsequently refunded Fabozzi the $49.95 he paid, which was $40 for the ticket and $9.95 in fees.
“Even though StubHub makes numerous ‘guarantees’ on its Web site that a ticket purchased by a buyer will be ‘authentic’ and ‘valid for entry,’ in reality, StubHub does not guarantee the fact that a ticket will be ‘authentic’ and ‘valid for entry’ at all,” the lawsuit states.
Fabozzi is seeking $5 million in damages.
The company’s “FanProtect Guarantee” states that if a ticket is invalid, the fan should contact StubHub from the venue, and StubHub will try to obtain another ticket.
“If StubHub cannot locate replacement tickets, upon confirmation that the tickets were invalid for entry, StubHub will provide you with a refund for the cost of the tickets, including service fees and shipping and handling charges,” the company stipulates.
Randall Newman, the attorney who represents Fabozzi, told TicketNews that he believes that some of StubHub’s language concerning refunds is misleading, in part because the company guarantees valid tickets.
Competing ticket resale marketplace TicketsNow offers an “Unconditional Guarantee” that states that “the customer will receive authentic tickets on time for their event or their money back.”
A StubHub spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Fabozzi and Newman recently sued StubHub and the Philadelphia Phillies for allegedly not disclosing the original face value of tickets he purchased. The case is still pending.
Additionally, Newman sued the company and the New York Yankees on similar grounds on behalf of another client, but he lost that case.