Anyone been through this?

Isoworld13

I'm a HUGE PJ fan. Been a member of the 10c since '95. Have been to 25 shows. However, I've been a DEAD fan even longer. Seen over 40 TRUE Grateful Dead shows dating back to 1989, and OVER 100 Grateful Dead/The Dead/Furthur/Rat Dog/Phil Lesh shows altogether. Naturally I was ecstatic to hear about the FINAL SHOWS EVER for their 50th reunion. Unfortunately, I lost on the Mail Order Lottery, the VIP Package Pre-Sale, and the Ticketmaster general public sale for ALL 3 shows. (Even took the day off from work for the Ticketmaster sale date only to be shut out for ALL 3 shows in LESS than 5 minutes). Since then I have been pouring over the ridiculously over-priced secondary market looking for a break. YESTERDAY I FOUND ONE. After MONTHS of looking at SeatGeek, StubHub, and DOZENS of others (EVERY SINGLE DAY), I came across the DEAL OF A LIFETIME. Low and behold, Crowd Seats had 2 tickets in the GA PIT for $240/ea. The FACE VALUE for these tickets are $99, so this price is ALMOST TRIPLE FACE VALUE (which seems high, but reasonable). I quickly purchased these tickets. BEFORE I confirmed the order of these tickets I had to SPECIFICALLY check a box that said I AGREED with the "Terms of Purchase". Included in those "terms of purchase" was a VERY EXPLICIT section about "Refunds and Exchanges". That section SPECIFICALLY said " Before purchasing tickets, carefully review your event and seating location. Once an order transacts, it CANNOT be unwound. All transactions are final". "ALL TRANSACTIONS ARE FINAL" . After finalizing the transaction, I was sent not one, but TWO confirmation emails. The first was an "Order Status- Your Tickets are Processing", the second was an "Order CONFIRMATION" complete with an ORDER CONFIRMATION # and telling me that my tickets would be shipped via Fed Ex in late June to be received in plenty of time before the show. Because of this I was able to make plans for the show and book nonrefundable airfare & hotel rooms. About 2 hours later, I received a call from a Crowd Seats rep. Apparently THEY made a mistake. The tickets they sold me for 2.5X FACE VALUE was an ERROR. They "mistakenly' charged me almost TRIPLE FACE VALUE. They were SUPPOSED to charge me 25X Face Value and the tickets they charged me $250 for were SUPPOSED to be listed for $2500. They now want to re-neg on THEIR "ALL TRANSACTIONS ARE FINAL / ONCE AN ORDER TRANSACTS, IT CANNOT BE UNWOUND" policy. IF I had paid $2500 EACH for the tix, but then were able to find them for LESS I was shit out of luck, but since it was THEIR mistake, and the shoe is on the other foot, they want to refund my money like nothing has ever happened. I have already invested non-refundable $$ in airfare and hotels. I had a confirmation #. I received TWO emails CONFIRMING my purchase. My credit card was officially charged. It was, in THEIR EXACT TERMS
"once an order transacts, it cannot be unwound. ALL TRANSACTIONS ARE FINAL". Now they say they "accidentally" charged me 3 times face value when they were supposed to charge me 25 times face value. Complete bullshit if you ask me. The mistake was 100% on THEIR end. THEY listed the ALREADY overpriced tickets on THEIR site. I BOUGHT those tickets (at ALMOST TRIPLE FACE VALUE). My credit card was charged, I was issued a confirmation #, and was sent TWO confirmation emails confirming the purchase. This gave me the confidence to purchase NON-REFUNDABLE airfare and hotels IN CHICAGO for the 4th of July Week-end. Now they want to re-neg on THEIR "all transactions are final" TOS agreement and leave me with airfare and hotel to a show I have no tickets for. Is this even legal?

badbrains

That's straight bullshit and you should def fight this shit. That's fucken a bunch of crock. You have the evidence and should stick to your guns and say no way. They fucked up and they have to eat the loss.

Suziemay

That doesn't sound right to me. If the seller didn't have the tickets for whatever reason and they couldn't fulfil the order, that's a different story. Never used Crowd Seats before, but I'm assuming part of their guarantee is they need to find you comparable tickets at no additional cost to you if they are unable to fulfil their original order.

mookeywrench

Section 1. GENERAL

1.1 Welcome to the website (the "Site") of CrowdSeats, LLC. ("CrowdSeats"). CrowdSeats provides its services to you subject to the notices, terms, and conditions set forth in these Terms of Use (the "Terms") and the terms of the Privacy Policy. In addition, when you use any CrowdSeats service (e.g., Customer Reviews), you will be subject to the rules, guidelines, policies, terms, and conditions applicable to such service, and they are incorporated into the Terms by this reference. CrowdSeats reserves the right to change this Site, the Terms and the Privacy Policy at any time. ACCESSING, BROWSING OR OTHERWISE USING THE SITE INDICATES YOUR ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND ACCEPTANCE OF THE TERMS AND THE PRIVACY POLICY, SO PLEASE READ THE TERMS AND THE PRIVACY POLICY CAREFULLY BEFORE PROCEEDING.


Section 7. TERMINATION AND REFUSAL OF SERVICE

7.1 In addition to any other legal or equitable remedies, CrowdSeats may, without prior notice to you, immediately terminate the Terms, refuse service, terminate accounts, cancel orders, and/or revoke any or all of your licenses and rights granted under the Terms at its discretion, including, without limitation, if CrowdSeats believes that your conduct violates applicable law, the Terms, or is otherwise harmful to CrowdSeats's interests.

Legally, there's not much you can do. Morally, it's pretty much BS.

If you're really adamant about it, you could contact your local news and see if they can run a consumer investigative report on your scenario. Businesses hate bad publicity and may give you the tickets to make themselves look good.

mookeywrench

double post

Isoworld13

" if CrowdSeats believes that your conduct violates applicable law, the Terms, or is otherwise harmful to CrowdSeats's interests."

That would be fine IF my conduct violated the law or was harmful to Crowd Seats. Not sure how that is applicable here. All I did was purchase tickets from them (at ALMOST TRIPLE the face value cost no less). They charged my credit card, took my money and issued me a confirmation # along with an email stating that my order was CONFIRMED and even gave me a shipping date. Not only that, but they made it abundantly clear that the transaction was final and it could not be undone. If I found a better deal elsewhere, then too bad. If they are allowed to re-neg, then theoretically, they could sell a person a set of tickets for a set amount, then if a week later someone else came along and offered them more money, they could decide not to send the tickets to the original purchaser. How can that be legal? Once you sell something for an agreed upon price and take that person's money, then that thing is no longer yours to sell. How can you sell it a second time when you ALREADY sold it? Once you sell it, and accept the funds for it, doesn't it then become the property of the person you sold it to?

darthvedder

I like how you EMPHASIZE certain words for IMPACT. Seriously, though, it sucks what you're going through. I hope you get it worked out.

ikiT

The secondary ticket market has always been flush with douche bags. I hope you find an acceptable resolution for your problem, but it looks BAD, my friend.

deadendp

I'm so sorry.

mookeywrench

Isoworld13 said:

" if CrowdSeats believes that your conduct violates applicable law, the Terms, or is otherwise harmful to CrowdSeats's interests."

That would be fine IF my conduct violated the law or was harmful to Crowd Seats. Not sure how that is applicable here.

Because selling you a ticket at 10% of the intended selling cost due to a publishing error is not in the interest of CrowdSeats.

Isoworld13

Technically, the best interests of CrowdSeats is to sell the same tickets to multiple people over the course of a few weeks, and then actually ship them to whoever pays the most. I just don't see how that is legal to do. Especially when, in their OWN words, "ALL TRANSACTIONS ARE FINAL, and NO transaction can be undone once payment is submitted." It just seems like the consumer should have some rights. Had they not charged my credit card and sent me an "order confirmation" email & confirmation #, I would have a slightly different take. That is not the case. In fact, it was HOURS after the fact that they decided to back out of the transaction. So what about the non-refundable hotel & airfare I purchased BECAUSE I was able to obtain tickets? Do I get to go to the airline & the hotel and say I should be able to get my money back because Crowd Seats decided to take back the seats they sold me hours before I purchased the air & hotel? I am hoping for a peaceful resolution to this. I would hope that it does not have to come to threatening law suits and going to the Better Business Bureau. All I'm looking for is for some decent seats for THREE to FIVE TIMES face value. I'm willing to be f'd in the ass, I just don't want to take it in the mouth too.

mookeywrench

well good luck with that

RoleModelsinBlood31

Dude any updates on this shit tornado?

Isoworld13

Yesterday marked "48 business hours" (but actually 4 days). I was told it takes "48-72 business hours" for a manager to contact me. Day is almost over here for the 36th hour, and still no word. I wrote another email yesterday saying that it had been 48 hours without someone contacting me & I've yet to even get a response. My credit card still has the charges pending. In my last email I expressed hope that a reasonable and amicable solution be found. I told them I didn't want to have to go to the Better Business Bureau, but would if i had to.

Red Lukin

I'd take them to small claims. Sure their policy is to be able to make changes to the order but I'd say "my policy is not to get ripped off"

tempo_n_groove

Isoworld the Dead is releasing more tickets!!! You can probably get them at face. Do you need help trying to score a pair? If so let me know. Friday they go on sale.

Maybe we can get a few people to try and help you out if you still need tix.

Face value or bust!!!

PM me if you need help.

PJ_Soul

Yeah, I'd go at them full force about this. Threaten to get lawyers involved... might want to actually call a lawyer for a consultation, actually, if you're really into this.

Not to be an asshole, but maybe this is a good time to mention that it's probably NEVER a good idea to go for the nonrefundable airfare and hotel bookings when you're going on a concert trip. Concerts can be canceled for all kinds of reasons. Booking through the hotel directly so you can cancel and paying for the cancellation insurance on the airfare is the best way to go. Better safe than sorry with such trips.

Isoworld13

Problem is, to get the best rates, you have to go non-refundable, and typically, the air & hotel are much more expensive than the tickets to a show, so you really are better off to save on that end. This is a unique circumstance. Never have I seen tickets for a concert go for such ridiculous prices. I've attended 5 Super Bowls and not seen markups this high. 30X face value??? That's insane. We're talking about a 50 year old band who's lead singer ( and some would say, THE most important member of the band) DIED 20 years ago! Can you imagine if Eddie Vedder died tomorrow, and TWENTY YEARS from now the rest of the band got back together to play 5 shows without him, and scalpers wanted THIRTY TIMES face value to see Pearl Jam WITHOUT Eddie? Sounds ridiculous, but it's actually happening. I'm going to try for the ticket drop for tomorrow. Hopefully things work out. I've already acquired tickets for the Friday & Sunday shows (paid just over $300/ea for the 300 level - an $80 face, which is high, but well below the $500 market value they are currently going for), so at least I know I'm not heading out there for nothing. Just pisses me off that this company can do this and get away with it. To date, I've received no response since I was told a manger would contact me. I've sent 4 emails this week and have been completely ignored. I have a feeling that they are waiting until after tomorrow's ticket drop. You know that EVERY scalping agency in the country will be going after those tickets. Maybe they are hoping to load up with a whole new batch before trying to come to an agreement with me.