Attorney General Ellison announces nearly $2M settlement with StubHub

Stubhub, Inc. agrees to honor its refund policies, will pay $1.87M in refunds to Minnesotans whose events were cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic

September 16, 2021 (SAINT PAUL) — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced today that his office has reached a settlement with California-based StubHub, Inc. over the company’s refusal to pay refunds to consumers for concerts, sports events, and other events that were cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the settlement, StubHub will pay $1.87 million in refunds to 5,500 consumers who either live in Minnesota or purchased tickets for events in Minnesota. The investigation included nine other states and the District of Columbia in a multistate resolution with the company.   

StubHub operates one of the largest ticket reselling marketplaces in the country. Under its “FanProtect Guarantee,” StubHub offered consumers full refunds of the purchase price and fees they paid for tickets if their events were cancelled. 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. 

“Minnesotans should not lose money when a service they paid for was never provided,” said Attorney General Ellison. “The COVID-19 pandemic is not an excuse to withhold refunds. That’s why we fought to put money back in Minnesotans pockets. This settlement ensures that StubHub will honor its refund policies both now and in the future.”   

After the states began their coordinated investigations, StubHub reversed its decision in May 2021 and notified its customers that if they purchased tickets prior to March 25, 2020, and their events were cancelled, they would receive full refunds of the amounts they paid for their tickets to events unless they elected to retain their account credits. StubHub agreed to provide $1.87 million in refunds to more than 5,500 consumers residing in Minnesota or purchasing tickets for an event in Minnesota, who had previously purchased tickets on StubHub’s marketplace under terms that included the FanProtect Guarantee.   

Today’s settlement also includes an injunction that requires that StubHub to:   

1. Honor its refund policies;  
   
2. Not change its refund policies for purchased tickets unless the purchasing consumer consents to the change; and 
   
3. Promptly process refund requests it receives from consumers for the events at issue going forward.
   
   

The agreement also provides for a $309,150 civil penalty, which StubHub can avoid paying if it pays the refunds owed to Minnesota consumers and it does not violate the other terms of the agreement.

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 Attorney General’s Office at 651-296-3353 or 800-657-3787. 

Joining Attorney General Ellison in today’s settlement were the attorneys general for Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Indiana, Maryland, New Hampshire, Ohio, Virginia, and Wisconsin.