A woman who used StubHub to buy tickets to a Taylor Swift concert in Poland became nervous after learning about the country’s strict resale laws.
A Boston woman had some anxious moments as she prepared to head to Poland for a Taylor Swift concert.
Cheryl MacElhaney reached out to NBC10 Boston Responds after a ticketing issue threatened to ruin her trip to catch a stop on the Eras Tour.
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The Swiftie went all out for the show in Warsaw.
"I went with the Reputation Era, which is my favorite," she said, showing off the outfit that she planned to wear to the show. "I have some really fun sparkly combat boots, and then a black sequin top, a black sequin skirt here. And then … I went a little crazy on the snake jewelry. But, you know, a girl's gotta have her options!"
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MacElhaney says she had about $4,000 tied up in the trip, between flights, hotels and her ticket, which she purchased for about $1,000 on the resale site StubHub.
But after connecting with some European Swifties on social media, she realized there may be a problem.
"I joined some Facebook groups … but then, I started to see quite a few posts about local Polish Swifties kind of warning us, like, 'Hey, if you've gotten your tickets on StubHub, just a heads up. Poland has some of the strictest resale laws,'" she explained. "And what that meant for us who bought through StubHub is that if we didn't have a ticket with our names on it that match our ID, we will be denied entry at the gate."
MacElhaney says she called StubHub several times, and the company assured her that the ticket seller would go through the official name change and ticket transfer process with the company that manages ticket sales in Poland.
"My original ticket delivery date was scheduled for July 16. That eventually got pushed back to July 25, which made me a little nervous. I called StubHub, they told me, 'Your seller just needs a little bit more time getting the name change approved,'" she said. "A few days later, I log in to StubHub. My ticket delivery date has now been pushed to Aug. 3, three hours before the show was supposed to start. So that's when I really, like, really freaked out."
MacElhaney contacted NBC10 Boston Responds for help when she couldn't get a guarantee from StubHub that her ticket would come through.
"And you expect me to fly to Poland, to Warsaw, after I've spent thousands of dollars on this trip, just to kind of gamble with whether or not I'll get in at the gate? And he just kept saying, 'Oh, our fan protector guarantee, like, you'll get a refund if that happens,'" she recalled. "I'm like, 'I don't want a refund! I want a ticket that is going to get me into this concert!'"
We contacted StubHub on MacElhaney's behalf, and two days before she flew out, she got her ticket with her name on it.
"I freaked out, and I just started texting everybody I know, because everyone has been kind of, like, following my journey," she said.
MacElhaney had a night to remember in Warsaw and sent a lot of pictures from the concert!
StubHub tells us its customer service team was able to ensure MacElhaney got into the show, confirming her ticket was personalized to include her name, per the venue requirement.
The company says its FanProtect guarantee ensures that a ticket buyer will get in the door, and if any issue occurs, it will find an equivalent or better ticket or provide a full refund, but its priority is always to get their customers through the door.
If you are ever buying tickets for a concert in another country, do some research first. Some do not permit the resale of tickets through unauthorized channels.
And if you have a consumer problem you need help with, reach out to us here. We will get back to you!
