Ticketholders Seek Refunds as Coronavirus Prompts Mass Cancellations

StubHub, a marketplace for third-party ticket sellers, sent an email Thursday offering customers that purchased tickets to now-canceled events a “coupon worth 120 percent of your original order to go to the live event of your choosing within the next 12 months.”

“Alternatively, you can choose to receive a full refund for the original order amount (including service and delivery fees) to the original payment method,” the company said.

If your event is postponed, StubHub said, it will “send you an email once the details are confirmed with next steps to get you to the event.”

Music festivals that are reeling after being shut down or postponed have tended to be more resistant to immediately promising refunds.

South by Southwest, the sprawling festival of music, technology and film in Austin, Texas, was canceled by city officials last week, plunging the organization into financial hardship that required reducing staff, the group said.

In a statement issued on Thursday, South by Southwest said that it was sticking to its strict no-refund policy on its badges, which grant attendees access to the festival and can cost up to $1,725. But the organization said that it would offer a deferral of the badge until next year or the two years after that.

Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tenn., has said that ticketholders will be refunded — but only if they purchased passes from the festival’s ticketing vendor, Front Gate.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/business/coronavirus-refunds.html