A friend and I bought 6 tickets for Gracie Abrams and the seller backed out last minute (within a week). A link was provided for replacement tickets that don't exist. Now we see there are 6 seats available in the same section on the same night we purchased and we're being told by customer service reps (Alex and Joe) that they are not suitable replacements because they are triple what we paid months ago and it wouldn't be fair to the seller to charge them the difference. We are being told we can get a refund and then repurchase tickets for triple the price. In everything I'm reading in Stub hub user agreement and policies it says the seller will be charged replacement costs. Am I wrong that the seller should be penalized and not the buyer when they backed out last minute? I have both bought and sold previously and understand both sides should be protected. Tickets will not be available for the price we originally purchased so we are being penalized for purchasing early. If they backed out months ago when we purchased, there would've been more opportunities to purchase or be offered comparably priced tickets. All other suggestions of less tickets, splitting our group up or going a different day were apparently not possible even though we were told in a chat it could be. Customer service very frustrating, inflexible in coming up with solutions and not accommodating. Now we have very disappointed girls. If this is the recourse for purchasing tickets how can anyone trust this platform to deliver on events? Basically just purchasing the possibility of tickets, not actual tickets until you are physically in the venue. Feel as though it protects the sellers and not the buyers.
Stubhub guarantees a refund or tickets. Not saying that's ideal, but that's the reality. If the only replacement tickets are a lot higher in price, they will not replace your tickets and will only give you a refund.
The other thing that makes it hard is Stubhub won't even check on the tickets until 3 hours before the event. So, unless the seller actually calls them and says they're not going to be able to fulfill the order, you can't know for sure or do anything through stubhub until right before.