NBC10 Boston Responds helps local band get money owed by online ticket company

A local band was in a bind when it didn't get the money it was owed for two summer shows.

Band members had used a national online ticketing company. When they couldn't get answers about their delayed payment, they contacted our NBC10 Boston Responds team.

The Dogmatics have been around since the 80s, playing popular clubs in Boston and beyond.

"I would say it's all original garage punk, maybe a little bit. Something like that," said band member Jerry Lehane. "We have a blast!"

The band had used an online ticketing platform called Brown Paper Tickets for shows in the past and used it again over the summer. The company takes a cut of the proceeds and sends the remaining money back to the organizer.

"On July 26 of this year and Aug. 26 of this year, we used Brown Paper Tickets for one show at the New World Tavern," said Lehane. "And the other was a scholarship fundraiser at Rockland High School."

In the past, they received the ticket sale proceeds from Brown Paper Tickets a few weeks after the show. But this time, they didn't. Lehane says he couldn't get through to the company by phone, so he emailed them repeatedly trying to get the $4,605 they were owed.

"So when we emailed them, we always got automated responses, and the automated responses would say the same thing, that there's a delay due to COVID," said Lehane. "'As soon as we processed the fees, we will email you the date.' And this went on for four or five emails, and then we realized that we weren't getting anywhere."

Lehane contacted NBC10 Boston Responds for help in September.

"It was frustrating because you know that you're not getting anywhere. You know that on the other end … there's no one behind there," said Lehane. "They just sending back an automated response."

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson sued Seattle-based Brown Paper Tickets in 2020 after receiving 1,200 complaints. The lawsuit alleged the company failed to pay organizers for events that occurred, including those before the COVID shutdown.

In 2021, the company settled the lawsuit and was ordered to give a full refund of all the money it owed to organizers of past events as quickly as possible.

In 2022, Events.com announced it was acquiring the assets of the company and would support its efforts to refund ticket holders and assist event organizers impacted by the pandemic.

When we contacted the company in early October, it told us Events.com was in the final phases of acquiring Brown Paper Tickets, which would accelerate the company's delayed payments to organizers. It said Lehane's payment was scheduled for the week of Oct. 16.

But it took a couple of follow-up emails before the company confirmed that his payment finally went through in late November.

"With support from Events.com's subsidiary, Brown Paper Tickets has successfully paid over $42 million to event organizers worldwide since Jan. 1, 2020," the company said in a statement. "Under the asset purchase agreement, any remaining impacted event organizers will receive final payments between January 25th and March 31st, 2024."

And it's on with the show for the Dogmatics.

"I know it's a small amount of money for them, but for us, it's a pretty large amount, so we were very happy and you got the job done right," said Lehane. "We're grateful to NBC Responds and to you, Leslie. Thank you."

Events.com says that under the terms of the acquisition, all new events on Brown Paper Tickets are required to be part of a secured funds program, which secures all event ticket sales until the organizer receives a quick payment after the event.

If you have a consumer problem you need help with, reach out to us at www.nbcboston.com/contactresponds