There is one big play left in overtime when it comes to a Super Bowl ticket snafu.

A consumer protection lawsuit filed by Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson rages on a month after the Seahawks lost to the Patriots. The Seahawks did not respond to a pair of calls placed on Friday and Tuesday, respectively, but Alison Dempsey-Hall, the deputy communications director for Ferguson’s office, was not shy about commenting.

“Yes, the case is still pending,” she said.

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In filing the legal action, Ferguson said, “For some Seahawks fans, the Super Bowl heartbreak started before the interception.”
He said that, hours before the Super Bowl, customers of SBTickets.com, LLC received an e-mail announcing the company would not fulfill all its ticket orders. The company did not have the tickets it promised when it made sales to many consumers.
Ferguson called it, “short-selling.”

A detailed list of orders placed obtained by TicketNews via a Freedom of Information request showed customers placed orders for thousands, or as Ferguson said, “their savings.”

He said many Seahawks fans wound up watching the game at restaurants and hotels near the stadium. The Attorney General received 24 complaints about SBTickets, regarding 60 tickets. Prices ranged from $1,875 to $3,500 per ticket, Ferguson said. In all, Washington consumers paid SBTickets at least $149,000 for tickets.

Ferguson accused SBTickets of prioritizing customers who had paid the highest price to sell its small inventory. Most consumers eventually received refunds about two weeks after the Super Bowl.

The state of Washington is asking for SBTickets to reimburse customers, including travel and lodging costs, penalties of up to $2,000 per violation and an injunction preventing the company from engaging in “deceptive practices in the future.” That, “could include multiple infractions per ticket order,” Dempsey-Hall said. She said no timetable has been established for the suit.

SBTickets could not be reached for comment by publication.

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