Advertisement

StubHub refuses to honor title game ticket price mistake

You know that old saying when something seems too good to be true, it probably is? Well, if he didn't before, Oregon Ducks football fan Patrick Leonard knows all about it now. The 1990 UO graduate thought he had scored a steal when he went looking for National Championship Game tickets on StubHub last week. Leonard was under the impression he had stumbled upon seats at AT&T Stadium for $414.84 each. And they weren't nosebleed seats either. They included "access to Field Level Club and Founders Club which includes all-inclusive food and beverage. Founders Club – Roomier cushioned seats." Seats like that were going in the $4,000 range on the secondary-ticket marketplace. After purchasing four (Leonard had planned to take his 12-year-old son, 9-year old-daughter and one of his daughter's friends to North Texas), the receipt he received on his phone seemed rather curious. Instead of reading "$1,659.36," it read "16,59.36 USD." And when he saw his American Express statement the next day, $16,059.36 had been charged. The Oregonian has more:

He immediately called StubHub. He emailed them screen shots of his phone showing "$16,59.36 USD." He told them he expected the company to honor the price on his phone.

Late Saturday, he emailed a customer-service representative requesting an immediate resolution as he needed to purchase airplane tickets.

About 30 minutes later, Leonard said, StubHub sent him an email saying his ticket purchase would not be honored. Another customer-service representative would be able to follow up on Monday, he was told.

And on Monday, Leonard says, a senior supervisor in StubHub's Major Events Group called to underscore Saturday's decision – his order had been rescinded, the charge on his credit card would be refunded and, as a goodwill gesture, StubHub would give him $1,600 credit toward future ticket purchases.

Leonard told the newspaper he wouldn't be using the credit. Instead, he'll be watching the game at home.