Class Action Filed Against StubHub Over ‘FanProtect Guarantee’

Photo Credit: Ajay Suresh / CC by 2.0

A Taylor Swift fan leads a class action lawsuit against StubHub over its “FanProtect Guarantee,” which the company allegedly refuses to honor.

A disgruntled Taylor Swift fan is the lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit filed against StubHub over allegations that the company refuses to honor its “FanProtect Guarantee,” leaving fans with obviously “inferior” seats after they spent thousands on prime seating.

Alexis Christensen says she spent $14,000 on tickets to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, which were suddenly voided the day of the concert. As a replacement, she says she was offered “clearly inferior” seats that offered a “sharply angled side view of the stage” as a replacement.

StubHub’s “FanProtect Guarantee” promises buyers that tickets they purchase on the platform are valid. If they are found otherwise, the company promises to “find you comparable or better tickets to the event” or offer a refund or credit. However, the fine print is more nuanced; “comparable or better” is determined at StubHub’s “sole discretion” based on “cost, quality, availability, and other factors.”

Despite StubHub citing its “FanProtect Guarantee” as a reason concertgoers should do business with the company, StubHub allegedly refused to honor the policy due to the easy outs present in its fine print. According to the lawsuit, that left fans with subpar seating at exorbitant prices previously paid for top-tier arrangements.

“With less than forty minutes until the once-in-a-lifetime concert began, and with no alternative option or recourse provided by the defendant, Ms. Christensen was forced to use the inferior tickets that StubHub provided,” write the plaintiff’s attorneys. “StubHub exploits the consumers’ lack of alternatives and coerces them into using tickets that are significantly less valuable than those they purchased.”

According to Christensen’s lawyers, she’s far from the only fan to have the wool pulled over their eyes by StubHub’s policy. The lawsuit asserts that the company uses it to convince consumers to use the platform, but “routinely and knowingly provides inferior tickets” or “refuses to offer refunds.”

“We are aware of and take seriously all customer concerns relating to our FanProtect Guarantee,” said a StubHub spokesperson in a statement to Billboard last month. “While we cannot comment on ongoing litigation, our commitment is to fair resolution in every valid case, guided by transparency and customer trust.”

The class action lawsuit seeks to represent “hundreds of thousands if not millions” of people whom it claims have faced similar treatment from StubHub. However, the lawsuit was only filed in Washington state, where Christensen resides—which could hamper plans to represent a larger class in the matter.

Further, StubHub’s terms of service require individual arbitration, which does not permit the consolidation of similar cases. Whether Christensen’s case will gain traction against the ticketing reseller remains to be seen.