‘My tickets were canceled. Where’s my refund?’
QI recently purchased four tickets to
“The Book of Mormon” at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia using my Barclays Mastercard. I did not realize that the tickets were purchased from Ticketoffices.com, a seller that represented itself as an authorized sales agent for the venue.
Ticketoffices.com is not actually authorized to sell tickets for this venue, and the tickets were canceled by the Kimmel Center. We felt we were scammed by the seller and reported this to Barclays, seeking protection.
I received a letter from Barclays stating that the investigation had concluded, and they determined that we were not responsible for the reported fraudulent activity. Barclays returned the funds to our account.
I proceeded to purchase four valid tickets directly from the Kimmel Center for the play.
A few weeks later, Barclays reversed its position, stating that this was not fraudulent activity and that the charge was returned to my account.
I appealed the decision in writing, but Barclays bank sided with Ticketoffices. com, saying it did indeed sell valid tickets, and the fact that they were canceled by the Kimmel Center means my recourse is with the Kimmel Center, not with Ticketoffices.com.
Please let me know what recourse I have. I’ve paid $690 for four tickets that have no value. — Donna Sandfort, Philadelphia
ATicketoffices.com should have sold you valid tickets to “The Book of Mormon.” But according to the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, the tickets you bought through Ticketoffices.com were not valid.
Your credit card company should have quickly reversed the charges — and kept them reversed. The Fair Credit Billing Act protects you against charges for goods and services you didn’t accept or that weren’t delivered as agreed.
As I review the paper trail between you and your bank, I can see the problem. When you put a purchase in dispute, a credit card company issues a temporary credit, pending its investigation. After the investigation wraps up, that credit either becomes permanent or the charge gets reinstated.
It’s unusual to have your event tickets canceled by a venue. Most tickets sold through a third party (even Ticketoffices.com) are valid. It’s not clear why the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts canceled yours. But when it did, Ticketoffices. com should have offered a quick refund or purchased valid tickets on your behalf.
You shouldn’t have ever needed to file a credit card dispute. When that went sideways, you could have appealed your case to one of the Barclaycard executives I list on my consumer advocacy site.
I contacted the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and asked about your tickets.
“The Kimmel Center deeply regrets Ms. Sandfort has been misled by a fraudulent ticketing agency,” a representative told me. “Unfortunately, this happens a lot in our industry and, as a nonprofit organization, the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts feels the negative effects of these unscrupulous business practices all too often.”
The Kimmel Center says its official ticketing agency, Ticket Philadelphia, credited the account of the fraudulent ticket broker and had a record of this refund. “Therefore, Barclays Bank should reverse the charges,” she says. The Kimmel Center contacted Barclays bank in an attempt to secure a refund for you, but it, too, failed.
You then contacted every single Barclays executive listed on my consumer advocacy website. Barclays still refused to overturn its decision.
Finally, you appealed to Ticketoffices.com, which ultimately agreed to refund your tickets.
Christopher Elliott’s latest book is “How to Be the World’s Smartest Traveler” (National Geographic). You can get real-time answers to any consumer question on his forum, elliott.org/forum, or by emailing him at chris@elliott.org.