StubHub Will Refund Customers; Reaches Settlement With 9 States

BALTIMORE, MD — Ticket reseller StubHub will refund customers who purchased tickets to events that were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic after several states investigated the company, Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh announced on Tuesday.

StubHub's "FanProtect Guarantee" stipulates that it will fully refund anyone whose event – concerts, sports events, etc. - gets canceled. However, after the mass cancellation of events in March 2020, the company stopped offering its usual refund, the news release said.

Instead, StubHub told customers that they would receive account credits equal to 120 percent of their purchase to be used for future events – and denied requests for refunds, according to the news release.

The company reversed its decision in May 2021 following the commencement of the states' coordinated investigations, and notified its customers that anyone who purchased tickets prior to March 25, 2020 to an event that got canceled would receive a full refund (unless they decided to retain their account credits).

"Maryland led an investigation that included nine other states and the District of Columbia in a multistate resolution with the company," a news release from the Attorney General's Office said.

That reversal will affect the more than 8,500 people who reside in Maryland and/or purchased tickets for an event in Maryland while the company was operating under its FanProtect Guarantee.

Also included in the settlement is an injunction that requires that StubHub honor its refund policies, that it does not change its refund policies for purchased tickets unless the purchasing consumer consents to the change, and that it promptly process refund requests it receives from consumers for the events at issue.

The company will also have to pay a $424,250 civil penalty if it does not pay the refunds owed to Maryland consumers and/or if it violates other terms of the agreement, according to the news release.

"Despite the unprecedented circumstances that led to mass cancellations of events last year, StubHub had a responsibility to abide by the terms of its own guarantee policy," Attorney General Frosh said. "This settlement ensures that consumers will receive the refunds that they are entitled to."

Anyone who believes they are entitled to a refund but has not been contacted by StubHub can call the company at (866) 788-2482 or the Attorney General's Office at (410) 528-8662.

Joining Attorney General Frosh in the settlement were attorneys general for Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Indiana, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Ohio, Virginia, and Wisconsin, the news release said.