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I had a pair of concert tickets but won't be able to go, but on the checkout page it says the company does not offer refunds, cancellations, exchanges, changes, or transfers. I called them but they said they won't be able to do anything about it. They even said the concert venue hasn't been notified about the order yet, but they are still sending the order over tonight even though I told them I would like to cancel it and don't have the tickets or anything, just a confirmation email.
I know the checkout page said no refunds, but if I can't make the concert and called them in advance, I feel like they are basically taking money without having to deliver the goods...
One of my friends suggested a chargeback with the credit card company, I've never done this or know much about it.
What should I do in this situation? Just let it go and take the loss because the company says no refunds, or is it appropriate to try to get your money back if the company wouldn't work with you at all and is keeping your money for a product/service that isn't delivered/used? Does this affect your credit or are chargebacks bad for customers?
You can contact the credit card company and on occassions they will allow a dispute based on when you ordered the tickets and if the vendor had the ability to cancel the order without incuring any damages or expenses or other issues. But, this is a very grey area since many of these vendor 0like this are not always based on exchanging money for a product and the ticket vendor could have committed to a sale electrinically even though they have not paid or received any tickets.
I write ticketing software for movie theatres. My program specifically does not allow refunds on advance day tickets and there is no easy way for my customers to override that function.
The whole concept of advance day tickets is a courtesy to those who absolutely want to attend an event, avoid a "sold-out" on popular events, and avoid any line at the box office. The contract between ticket buyer and theatre is just that - a contract. Once a ticket is sold, it CANNOT be resold reliably, easily, or even safely by the venue, which is why hawkers started showing up at some events.
The "value" of the ticket to the theatre drops as show time approaches, and becomes zero once the show has started. Imagine a competitor buying all advance tickets to a show, then one hour before showtime, beginning a refund process. That would mean the only customers would be those willing to brave a box office line and the possibility of the show beginning before they could be allowed in. A theatre could quickly be forced out of business. Imagine hawkers buying up blocks of tickets, preventing further advance sales, then, based upon previous attendance figures, getting refunds on only the tickets they knew they couldn't sell. Imagine hawkers buying out all tickets and having ANY way of eliminating losses while selling the tickets they DID use at an exorbitant profit. That, or any portion of that, cannot be allowed to happen.
Once - many years ago, in a theatre far far away, I was managing a theatre showing the original "Star Wars". We sold EXACTLY the number of tickets that matched the number of seats in the auditorium, and had been doing this successfully for a couple weeks. All signage boldly stated that tickets were sold for ONE SHOW ONLY, at the advertised time. Advance tickets were ONLY sold for the next show on the same day - AFTER the current show had sold out. All tickets were color coded according to which showtime. One self-centered couple bought tickets to a matinee, did not attend that showing, then showed up for a later show, expecting to get in. I patiently explained that we sold the exact number of seats, that their seats had been waiting for them at the proper showtime, that there were no less than three BOLD signs that they had to stand in line and read BEFORE they bought their tickets, and there were NO refunds. Not only had they failed on the contract requirement, but had they gone into the later show, they would have deprived other customers of THEIR seats, creating a very ugly situation, which BTW, is one reason why crossing between auditoriums in a multiplex is bad form.
The couple picketed the theatre with signs for a couple of shows the following day. Whenever a customer asked what they were picketing about, they would walk away from the couple shaking their heads in disbelief. After a couple of shows, a car came screeching up, an irate older couple got out, began loudly berating them as stupid and other unmentionable words, and then shoved them into the car and took off.
Bringing it back to your current situation, it is obvious you didn't understand the possible issues when you bought your ticket. If the no-refunds policy was not clear, you might have a point. Otherwise, in your shoes, I would call the venue, politely explain the confusion, and request a pass to an upcoming show in return for your turning in your current tickets. A good theatre or venue manager can often accommodate such requests. Building a loyal customer base is important.
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