Company stole my money

[AliOop]

Jurisdiction

Illinois

To make a long story short, Live Nation refuses to refund my $550 from a concert ticket purchase from 2019, long before the pandemic started. They have changed their refund policy many times since all the cancellations started. I have tried multiple times to get in contact with someone from their corporate offices to obtain a refund but I get zero response. This company has stolen money from a lot of people which has resulted in many lawsuits being filed, some class action. Personally, I feel like they should be criminally charged for theft.

My questions are:

1) How does filing a lawsuit work in this case?
2) Are consumer law attorneys contingency lawyers? If not and I file suit, can I add attorney fees to my refund?
3) What other options do I have other than suing?
4) Can they be held criminally liable? After all, theft is theft, why should they get away with it??

 

[adjusterjack]

How does filing a lawsuit work in this case?

You can find that out in the following search results. The first and second link.

illinois small claims court at DuckDuckGo

Are consumer law attorneys contingency lawyers?

No.

If not and I file suit, can I add attorney fees to my refund?

You can add it but you are not going to get it unless you had a written contract that allows for attorney fees.

What other options do I have other than suing?

Probably just kissing the money goodbye and learning from the experience.

Can they be held criminally liable? After all, theft is theft, why should they get away with it??

No. It's not theft. Breach of contract at best, if you even had a contract. Did you read the terms of service? I'll bet that there are limitations and disclaimers.

 

[zddoodah]

[A ticket seller] refuses to refund my $550 from a concert ticket purchase from 2019

When did you buy the tickets? What was the date of the event? (month and year are sufficient).

Why do you believe you're entitled to a refund?

Why is the ticket seller saying you're not entitled to a refund?

They have changed their refund policy many times since all the cancellations started.

Why is that relevant to your situation?

How does filing a lawsuit work in this case?

Not really sure what you're asking here. There's nothing special about how a lawsuit would "work in this case" as compared to any other (small claims) case, and a detailed discussion of how small claims lawsuits work in Illinois is way beyond the scope of an internet message board.

Are consumer law attorneys contingency lawyers? If not and I file suit, can I add attorney fees to my refund?

I can't conceive why you'd hire an attorney for such a small lawsuit.

What other options do I have other than suing?

Your other option is not to sue.

Can they be held criminally liable? After all, theft is theft, why should they get away with it?

No crime was committed.

You can add it but you are not going to get it unless you had a written contract that allows for attorney fees.

Consumer protection statutes often allow for recovery of attorneys' fees by a prevailing plaintiff. That said, I have no idea if there's any Illinois statute on point or, if there is, whether that statute has such a provision.

 

[mightymoose]

What really matters here are the terms you agreed to at the time you purchased the tickets.
Do you have any of that information?
Surely there were deadlines involved. Did you request your refund within the required time, and via the required method?

 

[Redemptionman]

What really matters here are the terms you agreed to at the time you purchased the tickets.
Do you have any of that information?
Surely there were deadlines involved. Did you request your refund within the required time, and via the required method?

Like Moose said you agreed to the terms and conditions, unless the artist provides for a refund you are more than likely not going to get your money back. However, you could see if they would allow you to get a credit towards another concert/ venue. Hey I have 800 bucks worth of airline tickets to use before August of 2022 from a cancelled trip last summer. Most places like this won't refund your money but you should be able to get a credit on it.

 

[army judge]

Live Nation refuses to refund my $550 from a concert ticket purchase from 2019, long before the pandemic started.

If an event is canceled, no action is required to obtain a refund; we will issue a refund to the original method of payment used at time of purchase, once funds are received from the Event Organizer.

Special rules apply to certain kinds of tickets (including transfer tickets and tickets you purchased but then resold). Please see the below FAQs and our Purchase Policy for more information.


Live Nation Help


Our goal is to make your purchasing experience easy, efficient, and equitable, so we can get you on your way to live events as quickly as possible. The following policy is designed to ensure your satisfaction and understanding of the purchase process on our sites and mobile applications, including without limitation www.ticketmaster.com , www.livenation.com , www.ticketmaster.ca , and www.ticketexchangebyticketmaster.com (collectively, the "Site"). This Purchase Policy applies to any purchases on our Site made on or after January 1, 2021, including any primary ticket sales and ticket resale transactions, such as Fan-to-Fan. Please also review our Terms of Use, which govern your use of our Site, and your purchase, possession, or use of any Live Nation or Ticketmaster tickets, products, or services. If you have any questions, please contact us.





All sales are final and refunds are only allowed in limited circumstances, as explained in this section and the Canceled, Postponed, Rescheduled and Moved Events section above. Before purchasing tickets, carefully review your event and seat selection. Policies set forth by Event Organizers generally prohibit us from issuing exchanges or refunds after a ticket has been purchased, or for lost, stolen, damaged, or destroyed tickets. Tickets therefore cannot be replaced if they are lost, stolen, or damaged.

Refunds. If your event is eligible for refunds and funds have been received from the Event Organizer, Live Nation Help we will issue a refund of the ticket price you paid (or, for a discounted ticket, then instead the discounted ticket price paid), any service fees, and any additional add-ons or upgrades (such as parking). In no event will expedited shipping charges, merchandise purchases, Fan Club membership fees, or any other amounts be refunded.

If a refund is issued, it will be processed to the original method of payment used at time of purchase. We cannot issue a refund to a different credit or debit card (this includes refund requests made through the self-service option). If your credit card or debit card number has changed, but is for the same account (e.g., a new card has been issued for the same account), the refund will be processed to that account.

For any ticket insurance refunds, please contact the insurance provider.

Please note that seating maps are representative of a venue's layout; however, they are subject to change at any time, and refunds are not allowed if the seating map is updated, if additional seats / rows are added, or if seats change as a result of a venue change after purchase.

We may occasionally offer tickets at a discount after the original on-sale date, and will not refund the difference between the original price and the sale price. In addition, there are no refunds, returns, or exchanges for digital downloads or hotel / festival packages.

If there is an account, or accounts, that have outstanding balances owed to Ticketmaster, Ticketmaster reserves the right to hold any and all refunds for said accounts until such time as no outstanding balances remain.

Credits. The Event Organizer may provide the option to request a credit for canceled, postponed, rescheduled, or moved events; if so, we will send you a notification, and you can submit a request for credit in your account. Credits are provided by the Event Organizer, and not by Ticketmaster. Credits may be applied toward the purchase of eligible event tickets and ancillary purchases (such as parking) at the same venue (or, in some cases, at one of a number of venues designated by the Event Organizer) during the timeframe specified by the Event Organizer. Credits cannot be used for resale tickets, third-party tickets, ticket insurance, or gift cards. The Event Organizer will determine which future events, venues, and ancillary purchases are eligible, as well as the amount of the credit (including any potential promotional amount). The amount of the credit will always include at least 100% of the price of the original ticket(s), plus fees and taxes. The amount of the credit will not include any additional add-ons or upgrades included in your original purchase (such as parking), which will be refunded to your original method of payment used at time of purchase. Once you've requested to receive credit and we've verified your order is eligible for credit, we'll send you a credit code which you can use for eligible purchases, along with instructions for redeeming that credit. Please note that credits typically have an expiration date, and must be used before that date. The email that you received with your credit code will contain the expiration date for your credit; you can also find the expiration date in your online account, under "Gift Cards & Codes."

Credits are non-transferable, may not be sold, are not redeemable for cash, and may not be combined with other promotions. Credits may not be applied to previously placed orders and may not be redeemed to purchase tickets for the same event as the tickets in your original purchase for which you accepted the credit.

Please note that, if the Event Organizer offers you a choice of either a refund or a credit, you cannot get a partial refund; whatever selection you make (i.e., refund or credit) will apply to your entire order, and cannot be split between refund and credit. Any and all requests for a refund or credit are final and cannot be changed once initiated.

For more information on refunds or credits for events that were canceled, postponed, rescheduled, or moved due to the COVID-19 pandemic, please see the Terms Regarding Certain Canceled, Rescheduled and Postponed Events (COVID-19).

Exchanges. For many events, certain tickets may be exchanged for tickets from us of equal or higher price. A per ticket exchange fee may apply. Exchanges are not available for: (a) tickets purchased through resale, (b) VIP and other premium tickets, or (c) tickets purchased with additional related items and/or bundled products, or (d) tickets for events that are less than 24 hours away.

Live Nation Help

Merchandise. All merchandise purchases are final, and in no event will there be refunds, exchanges, or credits for merchandise purchases.

Chargebacks and Other Refund Prohibitions. You agree that you will not attempt to evade, avoid, or circumvent any refund prohibitions in any manner with regard to tickets you purchased. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, you will not contact us to seek a refund or exchange from us when we are prohibited from providing one by the Event Organizer, and you will not dispute or otherwise seek a "chargeback" from the company whose credit card or other method of payment you used to purchase tickets from the Site. Should you do so, your tickets are subject to immediate cancelation, and we may, in our sole discretion, refuse to honor pending and future ticket purchases made from all credit card accounts or online accounts on which such chargebacks have been made, and may prohibit future purchases from all persons in whose name the credit card accounts exist, and from any person who accesses any associated online account or credit card or who otherwise breaches this provision from using the Site.

Special note about resale tickets purchased from TicketExchangebyTicketmaster.com : except for canceled events (as explained in Canceled, Postponed, Rescheduled and Moved Events, above), there are no refunds, exchanges, or cancelations once a request is submitted to us. This policy is in place because, when you place your ticket request on TicketExchangebyTicketmaster.com , we attempt to secure and acquire those tickets for you from a ticket seller and are not able to recover our costs. To be clear: if we have provided you with an Order Confirmation email for your TicketExchange purchase, even though you may have not received your requested tickets, we have already committed to acquiring and securing those tickets for you. Please order tickets only after you are certain you want them.