Buyer Beware: Taylor Swift resale tickets for Las Vegas shows might be fake

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — What would you pay to see your favorite band or singer in concert? Now think about what you’d pay to attend the same show but not get to see the band or singer.

That could be the case — especially if you purchase through ticket resellers — for some ticketholders for this weekend’s Taylor Swift Eras Tour concerts at Allegiant Stadium.

Tickets being sold on StubHub advertised as “unrestricted view” seem to be anything but. In fact, they’re apparently extremely obstructed, with seats behind the stage with the band and Swift seemingly being hidden from view.

Tickets for the two performances have been sold out from Ticketmaster for months, but the secondary market is strong. On StubHub, tickets for both night’s shows can still be found, but they’ll cost most people a small fortune.

When searching StubHub, the cheapest tickets (we searched for two together) for the Las Vegas shows are being sold for Friday night at $529 (fees included). The tickets are in Section 120, the bottom level, in row 31. According to the image provided by StubHub, the ticketholder will only see a corner of the main stage and not any of the extended stage that reaches out into the floor seats.

From images and video of Swift’s first tour stop in Glendale, Arizona, it’s clear that there are large video screens on the side of the main stage for people to watch.

As of Friday at noon, tickets were being sold on StubHub for sections directly behind the stage at Allegiant Stadium. In Glendale, the seats behind the stage were empty, according to photos and video.

Tuesday morning, 8 News Now checked StubHub, and there were dozens of tickets listed for $3,000 and up in the 200 level directly behind the stage and for more than $3,000 on the 300 level for Saturday night. But shortly before noon the prices being asked for these Friday night seats dramatically increased from approximately $1,000 to more than $4,000 each. The prices listed for these seats on Saturday night remained the same.

These and other tickets in this area are listed as having an “unrestricted view.” All ticket listings in these sections behind the stage are for seats in Row 40. In fact, upon further investigation, there are now seats priced at $4,000 and higher for almost every 400 level (the top-of-the-side seating in Allegiant Stadium) and are much like the seats listed behind the stage.

All of these listings are for four tickets together but could be purchased individually, two or three at a time.

When attempting to purchase these tickets for Saturday night, Section 323 in Row 40 StubHub showed the following language before the final purchase:

• Mobile Transfer
• Unrestricted view
• You’ll be seated together in Row 40
• Great news! These tickets are available as mobile tickets. You will be able to enter the event using only your phone!
• Last tickets remaining in Section 323

StubHub also shows a countdown clock and encourages the person to buy the tickets quickly with the message: “Please note that these tickets may not be available again at this price if you abandon them.”

Customer service

8 News Now did call StubHub’s customer service phone number and was told that these tickets might be listed in error, but was not given a definitive answer. In StubHub’s ‘Seller Policies‘ the company says providing “accurate and complete information about your tickets during the listing process is one of the keys to becoming a successful seller and is a requirement to list on the Site. If you do not follow all of the requirements in this section when listing your tickets, your listings may not appear on the Site, your sale may be canceled, you may not get paid.”

As far as penalties a fraudulent seller might face if found, the ‘Seller Policies’ say in part, “If replacement Tickets cannot be found or cannot be made available in time for the event or if the buyer is otherwise entitled to a full or partial refund according to the terms of the FanProtect Guarantee, because you delivered incorrect, misrepresented or invalid Tickets, we may charge you for the cost of the refund.”

StubHub goes on to say if someone violates Seller Policies, they could face the following consequences:

• The fees detailed in Section 3 above (The rules for getting tickets to buyers), including the cost of replacement tickets, reprinting fees, additional delivery costs, administrative fees and refunds to the buyer
• Warnings
• The removal of your listings
• Order cancelation
• Limits to your buying and selling privileges
• Withholding of payments
• Temporary or permanent suspension of your account
• Or any other consequences specified in Clause 19 of the User Agreement

“StubHub is the world’s top destination for ticket buyers and resellers. Prices may be higher or lower than face value.”

stubhub.com

“As a global marketplace that connects millions of buyers and sellers for events around the world, we have been working diligently to be prepared for Taylor Swift’s tour, as the most anticipated of the year, with unprecedented demand,” StubHub told 8 News Now in a prepared statement. “We have added resources, procedures and communications, to help ensure the best possible experience for all of our customers and we are continuously reviewing and revising these procedures, as necessary. We encourage buyers to be vigilante and be sure they have all the information they need to feel confident in purchasing a ticket, while we work hard to ensure sellers are providing this information, they should choose the ticket that’s right for their preferences.

“Further, StubHub’s FanProtect Guarantee is in place to give customers peace of mind. It guarantees that if any issue occurs, we’ll find an equivalent or better ticket or provide a full refund to buyers and that sellers get paid, once a customer is in the door – our customer service is available to support customers, as needed.”

‘FanProtect Guarantee’

Back on the StubHub site, the company says, “we continue to offer you peace of mind with our exclusive FanProtect Guarantee, best-in-class customer service, and product features that ensure we have your back.”

StubHub goes on to say that “Every order is 100% guaranteed on StubHub.” It even lists the following “FanProtect Guarantee”:

• You will get your tickets in time for the event
• Your tickets will be valid for entry
• Your tickets will be the same as or comparable to those you ordered
• If any of these things do not occur and you comply with applicable policies and timelines, we will find you comparable or better tickets to the event, or offer you a refund of what you paid for your purchase or credit of the same amount for use on a future purchase
  and
• If the event is canceled and not rescheduled, you will get a refund or credit for use on a future purchase, as determined in our sole discretion (unless a refund is required by law)

StubHub’s complete ‘Global User Agreement’ can be read here.

Other ticket marketplaces

Other ticket resellers, such as VividSeats and Seat Geek, do not have any tickets that would appear to be behind the stage at Allegiant Stadium for either Friday or Saturday night.

As of 8:30 a.m. Friday, the cheapest two seats together on Seat Geek are for Friday night and listed at $466 (fees and tax included) in Section 230, Row 7 and are listed as having “limited view.”

On VividSeats, the cheapest pair of tickets for sale are for Friday night and listed at $343 (plus fees and tax) in Section 120, and are listed as having an “obstructed view.”

StubHub could not confirm that the seats listed behind the stage were actually real seats and were originally sold by Ticketmaster.