ALBANY, NY (CelebrityAccess) — New York State Senator James Skoufis, Chair of the Senate Investigations and Government Operations Committee, has called on the State’s Attorney General to launch a formal inquiry into Ticketmaster after they changed their refund policy amid the coronavirus pandemic.
As reported previously, Ticketmaster appears to have quietly changed their refund policy in March from providing refunds if a show had been “postponed, rescheduled or canceled” to just providing a refund if an event had been canceled, allowing Ticketmaster to defer refunds for shows that have been postponed, even if the postponement is indefinite.
“Deceptively changing the language of refund policies and excluding postponed or rescheduled events are forms of corporate robbery; withholding billions of dollars that many now need to survive this pandemic is the antithesis of corporate social responsibility. I ask the Attorney General to intervene in any means necessary, including a criminal inquiry, and strongly urge these corporations to reconsider their newly adopted policies and refund consumers who are struggling to survive. These new issues will certainly be incorporated into our Senate committee’s broader investigation into the industry to ensure consumers are always put first,” said Senator James Skoufis.
According to the New York Times, the State Attorney’s office declined to comment on if they have launched a formal inquiry but noted that they have received multiple complaints from consumers regarding ticket refunds.
In a statement provided to the New York Times, a rep for Ticketmaster said:
“Ticketmaster is a sales platform and does not hold all customer dollars,” Ticketmaster said in a statement. “Revenue from ticket sales is held by our clients and event organizers. The entire industry is working through these unprecedented times to reschedule as many of the tens of thousands of disrupted events as possible or cancel them.”
“We believe the vast majority of our clients will open full refund opportunities once they have had time to determine if it is realistic to reschedule them or not,” the statement continued, “and we welcome the opportunity to work with legislators and regulators to ensure consumers and the industry are well protected.”
