Tony Rogozinski thought he followed the rules when he called StubHub to cancel his Lady Gaga ticket listing. But when the site sold the tickets anyway and billed him $864, he found himself in a customer service loop that led nowhere. Can he get his money back, or is he stuck paying for a mistake he didn't make?
Q: I need your help getting a reimbursement of $864 from StubHub. I recently listed two Lady Gaga tickets for sale on its platform. Before the tickets sold on the site, I decided to sell them to another party outside of the StubHub website. I knew I needed to cancel my listing to avoid any issues, so I called its customer service department to make sure everything was handled correctly.
I spoke with a representative who explicitly informed me that no further action was required on my part. He assured me the listing was taken care of. I acted in good faith based on that professional advice.
To my shock, the tickets sold on StubHub because the listing remained active. Since I had already sold the tickets elsewhere, I couldn't fulfill the order. StubHub then charged me $864 for the cancellation.
I’ve tried multiple times to escalate this beyond the standard customer service line, but I haven't had any success. It’s been a frustrating experience. This is certainly not a customer-friendly process. I have multiple emails showing my attempts to resolve this. I’d like StubHub to do the right thing and reimburse the $864 instead of stonewalling me and hiding behind a cancellation policy that ignores the bad advice its own representative gave me.
— Tony Rogozinski, Sacramento, Calif.
A: When a company representative tells you that "no further action is required," that should be the end of the story. StubHub should have ensured that once its agent gave you that verbal confirmation, the listing was actually deactivated in its system. A customer shouldn't be penalized for a company's internal communication breakdown.
You did the right thing by calling to verify the status of your listing. But phone calls are famously difficult to prove. To avoid this in the future, you should always insist on a confirmation email while you're still on the line. If the agent says the listing is gone, wait until that "canceled" notification hits your inbox before you hang up. A paper trail is your only real protection when a company stonewalls you later.
If you run into a wall with front-line customer service, you can always appeal to an executive. I publish the names and email addresses of the StubHub executives on my advocacy site, Elliott.org.
Your case is a classic example of what happens when the system doesn't work as designed. I've seen similar issues with other ticket platforms where a glitch leads to a double sale and a massive penalty fee for the seller.
I contacted StubHub on your behalf. A spokesperson for the company told me that after reviewing the order, they confirmed there was "confusion" around next steps after you contacted them.
StubHub issued a full credit of $864 back to your original payment method. You've confirmed that the money is back and the matter is resolved to your satisfaction. It’s nice to see a company admit when its own advice caused a mess.
Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy (https://elliottadvocacy.org), a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at chris@elliott.org or get help by contacting him at https://elliottadvocacy.org/help/