WYOMING, Mich. — A Wyoming family has bad blood after they spent thousands of dollars to see Taylor Swift then learned their tickets did not exist hours before the show.
“I have no idea how this is legal,” said Brandi McBride.
McBride and her husband’s ex-wife surprised their daughters on Christmas with tickets to see Swift in Detroit on June 10. They paid $3,663.34 for five seats.
“The look of joy, sheer joy, which, you know, I just keep telling my friends that just doesn't happen with teenagers anymore,” said McBride. “It was just going to be the greatest girls trip ever.”
After months of anticipation, their excitement turned to frustration the night before the concert when McBride received an email from EventTicketsCenter, the website they used to buy the tickets. It said due to the “unanticipated development” of the ticket marketplace for the Eras Tour the individual who sold to them could not complete the order.
EventTicketsCenter did offer a full refund and a 50 percent voucher for future purchases.
“We had our cooler packed, obviously we're driving to Detroit, I had a room booked to stay at a hotel… and I'm like, ‘What, what the heck?’” said McBride.
The email left the family in a state of shock and while they tried to put it into perspective, McBride still found herself sad.
A few years ago, doctors diagnosed the Air Force veteran with breast cancer and it has since metastasized. She says experiences like this mean more to them than most families.
“They [the girls] were so mature about it, just like, ‘We know it's a concert, we know this is a first world problem,’” said McBride. “We said in the grand scheme, you're right — We have today, we have our health, this is a concert, but for me, you know we were talking about the experience, and mine might be limited and all of these matter.”
EventTicketsCenter has not responded to any of FOX 17’s request for comment, so its unclear what specifically happened in the McBride family’s case, but John Breyault suspects speculative ticketing.
“What happens is that when you go to buy a ticket for a show, it looks like this is a resale ticket like you would find anywhere else, but in fact, what you're buying is not actually a ticket,” said Breyault, who works with the National Consumers League (NCL). “What you're buying is a promise from the ticket reseller that they will try and acquire the ticket.”
He added, “What the reseller is trying to do is obtain this cash, $3,000 or $4,000, and get tickets for less than that, and then make money off of the spread between the two. What it sounds like happened is they were unable to do that.”
Breyault says it’s a common but controversial form of reselling and notes that websites do not always disclose the practice.
EventTicketsCenter’s terms and conditions state, “Some listings on SITE may only be representations of available tickets or an offer by SITE to obtain tickets and not actual seat locations or currently available tickets.”
NCL suggests consumers do the following to avoid speculative ticketing:
- Read the fine print
- Buy from websites that fulfill orders with 48 hours
- Use a credit card for any purchase
Complaints can also be filed with a state’s attorney general’s office.
NCL has endorsed three bills introduced to Congress this year which would better protect consumers who buy tickets. They include the Ticket Act, Junk Fee Prevention Act and the Boss and Swift Act.
“Delivering on some but not all of their ticket promises is is really not acceptable to me,” said Breyault. “I mean, if you're putting yourself out there as you're selling tickets, you should deliver those, particularly if that's the impression that you're giving to people who are we're giving your company money to do this.”
McBride agrees and hopes her daughters and step-daughter can eventually feel like they did before this cruel summer began.
“I just can't even imagine, thinking who the audience is for Taylor Swift - it's young girls that are in love with this idea - To just think that you're gonna do that… is really sick,” said Breyault.
