StubHub is facing a courtroom battle in Canada over COVID-19 refunds after a class action lawsuit was filed.
The suit, launched by legal firm Koskie Minsky, has been brought on behalf of anyone who bought tickets from the StubHub platform before March 25, 2020, for an event that has been cancelled, and who have not received a refund prior to certification of the class action.
The Toronto-headquartered firm contends that customers are entitled to prompt cash refunds, in the original form of payment, under the terms of their contracts with StubHub and under consumer protection laws. The date of March 25 is important as it relates to StubHub’s controversial change of refund policy. The company amended its terms and conditions to offer a coupon worth 120% of original orders rather than a refund for any events after March 24.
Kirk Baert, a partner at Koskie Minsky, said: “StubHub has reneged on its promise to refund class members’ money. This is obviously wrong and hurts everyday Canadians whose household budgets are stretched right now.”
No details were given as to how many StubHub customers have joined the class action thus far.
Last month, the US-headquartered ticketing firm – in the process of being acquired from eBay by Viagogo in a $4bn deal – become the subject of legal action in Wisconsin, where ticket-buyer Matthew McMillan submitted a complaint to the U.S. District Court after claiming StubHub “sought to surreptitiously shift their losses onto their innocent customers.”
StubHub was also last month named in legal action brought by baseball fans in California who allege violations of Consumer Legal Remedies Act and Unfair Competition Law and of civil conspiracy. Major League Baseball (MLB), its 30 franchises, Ticketmaster, Live Nation, Last Minute Transactions were also included in the action.
The complainants, thought to number more than 100, are demanding a refund of ticket costs and ancillary fees for games that have not been played. The suit alleges the “amount in controversy… exceeds $5m.”
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