It's not legal for Ticketmaster to retroactively change their policy on old bookings. Unfortunately many other entities are misbehaving in a similar manner. (For example way.com is performing similar shenanigans by changing their policy on March 25th and then claiming that their new policy applies to all reservations after February 25th.)
Make sure to keep your rights in mind when companies misbehave:
1. You can submit a negative review online
2. You can file a credit card chargeback
3. You can submit a complaint to your attorney general
4. You can sue them in small claims court
Other key note: Do not accept gift cards or credit for future bookings. A refund by definition is cash and that credit will be worthless when those companies declare bankruptcy shortly.
Good luck with the chargeback. I tried to open one with Amex online and it was insta-denied with a note to the effect that I needed to work it out with Ticketmaster myself. I'm hoping Amex phone support is willing to work with me, whenever I make it through.
Ticketmaster's phone support tells you to open a live chat, then hangs up on you. When you open a live chat you get a canned response that the show is postponed and to go away until it's either canceled or rescheduled... then auto ends chat.
If nothing else, I can at least enjoy the minor irony that is getting fucked by the machine over a few Rage Against the Machine tickets.
When you open a chargeback case with Amex there’s a question specifically along the lines of “have you attempted to resolve this with the merchant?” They won’t start a case without it. After you affirm that you have attempted resolution with the merchant they ask for a summary. That’s where you’d list the times and substance of your (attempted) contact with the merchant. Neither condition is onerous or impractical. Did you do both of those things?
After the due diligence I’ve never heard of a case where Amex didn’t side with the consumer.
Yes, the described interaction with TM went down prior to contacting Amex, and was relayed to Amex. The form originally submitted for the online dispute detailed that, but the dispute was still instantly denied.
There is very clearly a relationship between Amex and TM where TM is receiving preferential treatment, as TM transactions no longer even show a dispute option online.
You can sue almost anybody anywhere for anything. Whether you'll prevail on your claims is another question. What makes you think that such a lawsuit would prevail? E.g. have you read amex's terms and did they agree there to arbitrate disputes unconditionally? Or is there a law you're aware of that requires them to?
Unless you happen to be in the state of their HQ, Amex could have any such suit removed to federal court (in which there is no small claims) under diversity jursdiction, which would suddenly make it painfully expensive (compared to small claims) to pursue even if it had merit.
Stories like this almost certainly exist for Visa and Mastercard too. The set of credit card companies that have no instances of an event like that is null. So if you want to avoid any credit card company where someone has had a bad chargeback experience, you're just not going to be able to use credit cards.
To note, Amex is both a payment processor and a card issuer - Visa/MC aren't card issuers, so chargebacks aren't decided by them, they're decided by the issuing bank.
Amex has by far the best record for customers wrt chargebacks. Most companies I start do not even accept Amex for this reason. I had contracts with them in the past where we were not even allowed to fight chargebacks in the first year of the account.
*3. a) You can submit a complaint to your attorney general. b) You can submit a complaint to the attorney general of __________, the State that Ticketmaster is incorporated in (I'm unable to find which State this is at the moment, anyone?).
and c). You can submit a complaint to the attorney general of the State that the venue is in.
Make sure to keep your rights in mind when companies misbehave:
1. You can submit a negative review online
2. You can file a credit card chargeback
3. You can submit a complaint to your attorney general
4. You can sue them in small claims court
Other key note: Do not accept gift cards or credit for future bookings. A refund by definition is cash and that credit will be worthless when those companies declare bankruptcy shortly.