Texans are lashing out after waiting weeks to receive a refund from secondary ticketing site Vivid Seats for the cancelled Houston Rodeo.
The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo shut down its month-long event on March 11 ahead of the Kane Brown concert due to threats of coronavirus spreading in the Houston area. Eleven major concerts were cancelled for the remainder of the month, including Lizzo, Gwen Stefani, Dierks Bentley, and Luke Bryan.
One ticketholder, Bryce Briscoe, told Click2Houston that he is waiting on a refund for the $1,500 he spent on tickets to see Stefani and Bentley.
“[Vivid Seats] originally told me toward the end of March that it was going to be somewhere around the middle of April before we got our refunds,” Briscoe said. “Then, I started getting emails toward the beginning of April saying they wanted to give me a voucher of 110% of each ticket.”
The voucher Briscoe is referring to is a part of Vivid Seats’ new program dubbed “Vivid Seats Gives Back.” The program, announced earlier this month, allows customers to receive an extra 10% toward the total value of their gift card for each card purchased, and Vivid Seats will donate an extra 10% of the gift card total to the MusiCares Foundations’ COVID-19 Relief Fund to help those in need during this pandemic.
The company is also launching the “Vivid Seats Gives Back Voucher Incentive Program,” which allows customers to receive a Rewards Cash loyalty credit for 110% of the full value of their order total, which can be used via Vivid Seats to purchase tickets. They will also donate 10% beyond the order total to MusiCares.
Briscoe isn’t alone; another ticketholder, Cody Johnson, said he spent about $345 which has yet to be refunded. Logan told Click2Houston that when he bought the tickets, Vivid Seats promised a 100% money-back guarantee if an event was cancelled, and originally, he was told his money would be refunded within two to five business days.
“I’ve actually been shocked by the process that a company evidently feels comfortable in doing that,” Logan said. “That’s what your business is built on. You can’t throw it out there, make the promises to get the business then walk away from it.”
After weeks of correspondence, both Briscoe and Logan received confirmation from Vivid Seats that they will be receiving a refund, though they have not been given a time frame of when that money will be returned.
Vivid Seats will offer customers the option to receive a full refund for cancelled concerts, though the company noted that refunds may take longer than usual, as the pandemic has “massively disrupted every aspect of the ticketing business.”
In a statement to Click2Houston, Vivid Seats noted that it is “a marketplace, that connects buyers and sellers of live event tickets.”
“We have contacted every customer that purchased a ticket regarding their refund and will continue to process each request,” a spokesperson said.
