Colorado Department of Law announces StubHub will refund Coloradans more than $3 million

Refunds will go to more than 8,000 Coloradans whose events were canceled during the pandemic

Sept. 14, 2021 (DENVER)—Attorney General Phil Weiser today joined nine other states and the District of Columbia in announcing that StubHub, Inc. is providing refunds to consumers who bought tickets under the company’s pre-pandemic refund policy for events that were subsequently canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Today’s settlement ensures that StubHub will return $3,120,442 in refunds to 8,688 Colorado consumers.

“The pandemic impacted all Coloradans, many of whom were looking forward to events and experiences that were canceled as we all worked to keep each other safe and healthy,” Weiser said. “Consumers should not be out of their money when a service they paid for was never provided. My office is committed to protecting consumers, and we will continue to take action to ensure that consumers, like those of Stubhub, receive the refunds they are owed.”

StubHub, one of the largest ticket reselling marketplaces in the country, initially refused to pay refunds to consumers for concerts, sports events, and other events that were canceled due to the pandemic.

Under its “FanProtect Guarantee,” StubHub typically offered consumers full refunds of the purchase price and fees they paid for tickets if their events were canceled. In March 2020, however, following the mass-cancellation of entertainment events, StubHub stopped honoring its refund guarantee and instead told its customers that they would receive account credits equal to 120% of their purchases to be used for future events and denied their requests for refunds.

After the states began coordinated investigations, StubHub ultimately reversed its decision in May 2021 and notified its customers that, if they purchased tickets prior to March 25, 2020 and their events were canceled, they would receive full refunds of the amounts they paid for their tickets to events unless they elected to retain their account credits.

Today’s settlement also requires StubHub to:

• Clearly and conspicuously disclose any modification to its refund policies before a consumer agrees to it;
• Honor those policies when events are cancelled; and
• Promptly process refund requests it receives from consumers for these cancelled events going forward.

Colorado consumers who have not been contacted by StubHub and believe they are entitled to a refund may either contact StubHub at (866) 788-2482 or the Colorado Department of Law at 800-222-4444.

Also joining today’s settlement are the attorneys general of Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Ohio, Virginia, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.

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