This week, all hell broke loose over when countless concertgoers took major issue with Ticketmaster making changes to its refund policy during the coronavirus pandemic. Now, the ticketing giant is going on damage control and issued a response to the widespread criticism.
As previously reported, Ticketmaster recently changed its refund policy to only cover events that have been cancelled outright, while at the same time excluding refunds for concerts or events that have been postponed or rescheduled.
UPDATE (4/17, 5 p.m. ET): According to reports, Ticketmaster plans to start offering refunds for postponed events, but so far, no official announcement has been made.
Now in efforts to further explain things, Ticketmaster has issued a lengthy statement. As you'll see, the company essentially puts the responsibility on artists and their teams when it comes to issuing refunds.
"Ticketmaster serves as the sales platform for event organizers worldwide. Our standard practice is for clients to hold the cash from their ticket sales. Clients using our platform also retain the ability to set individual policies for their postponed or rescheduled events," the statement reads. "Typically, event organizers have had the flexibility to offer refunds for virtually all postponed and rescheduled events. However, the unprecedented volume of over 30,000 events impacted to date, coupled with continued uncertainty over setting new dates while awaiting clearance from regional governments, has led to event organizers needing additional time to reschedule their events before deciding to offer refund options."
The statement goes on to explain that as of today there are more than 11,000 events that have already allowed for refunds.
It adds, "While we cannot guarantee all event organizers will offer refunds on their rescheduled events, we anticipate the vast majority will make a refund window available once new dates have been determined. In addition, Ticketmaster continues to issue refunds for all canceled events."
You can read the entire statement for yourself below.
As previously reported, Ticketmaster recently changed its refund policy to only cover events that have been cancelled outright, while at the same time excluding refunds for concerts or events that have been postponed or rescheduled.
UPDATE (4/17, 5 p.m. ET): According to reports, Ticketmaster plans to start offering refunds for postponed events, but so far, no official announcement has been made.
Now in efforts to further explain things, Ticketmaster has issued a lengthy statement. As you'll see, the company essentially puts the responsibility on artists and their teams when it comes to issuing refunds.
"Ticketmaster serves as the sales platform for event organizers worldwide. Our standard practice is for clients to hold the cash from their ticket sales. Clients using our platform also retain the ability to set individual policies for their postponed or rescheduled events," the statement reads. "Typically, event organizers have had the flexibility to offer refunds for virtually all postponed and rescheduled events. However, the unprecedented volume of over 30,000 events impacted to date, coupled with continued uncertainty over setting new dates while awaiting clearance from regional governments, has led to event organizers needing additional time to reschedule their events before deciding to offer refund options."
The statement goes on to explain that as of today there are more than 11,000 events that have already allowed for refunds.
It adds, "While we cannot guarantee all event organizers will offer refunds on their rescheduled events, we anticipate the vast majority will make a refund window available once new dates have been determined. In addition, Ticketmaster continues to issue refunds for all canceled events."
You can read the entire statement for yourself below.
