When life as we knew it came to an abrupt end a lot of people were left holding a pair of tickets to something that didn’t happen and are now wondering how to get their money back. It can be complicated.
It depends on whether the event was officially cancelled, postponed or remains undetermined. Figuring that out, says Bay Scoggin of the Texas Public Interest Research Group, is step one. There’s probably a website or it may take a phone call, possibly an email. Everything has been shut down so a response might not be immediate.
“From there you need to review the policy of the ticket vendor under which you bought the tickets,” he instructs. Step two, says Scoggin, is determine the vendor who issued the ticket and go to their website for their Covid 19 refund policy. Go HERE for TXPIRG’s link to the major ticket providers including Live Nation, Eventbrite and Stubhub.
Step three is getting your money back, and before attempting that make sure you have the relevant information including the date, event, location, account number, confirmation number before you contact them. Be aware that especially smaller local venues might not have fully determined their policy yet.
Sporting events remain a world of their own and policies vary widely. MLB hasn’t determined if this season’s baseball games are cancelled or postponed, so the Astros aren’t in a position to come up with definitive answers yet on refunds. It may involve credits or exchanges instead of cash refunds. The Dynamo are still waiting for a determination from MLS if their games are postponed or cancelled, and won’t know until June 8.
Fans holding tickets to the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, among the first Texas events cancelled due to Covid 19, have filed suit in federal court to get refunds.