Ticketmaster

Complaints & Reviews on USAComplaints

USAComplaints currently maintains 113 historical complaints about Ticketmaster, published between 1999 and 2013. No approved complaints have been published on this site during the last three years. For a current reputation snapshot, see the independent sources below.

• Promotional Ticket Price Scams, Tickets are not available seconds after the bogus promotion!Published Jan 8, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• Ripped off by ticketmasterPublished May 5, 2012 · Historical consumer allegation
• Did not release my tickets to me and will not issue a refund!Published Apr 9, 2012 · Historical consumer allegation
• Ticketmaster exchange charged my credit card twice for one pair of hockey tickets, then tell me to give them information witch i did three times even copied my credit card statment and there emails were one person even want InternetPublished Feb 2, 2012 · Historical consumer allegation
• T and American ExpressPublished Jan 14, 2012 · Historical consumer allegation
• TicketFast Bought tickets to Cats, paid $108 per ticket, asked for seats in the middle, received tickets worth $62.50, seats were on aislePublished Jan 6, 2012 · Historical consumer allegation
• Bait and switch of online ticketsPublished Dec 28, 2011 · Historical consumer allegation
• Consumer ReportPublished Nov 16, 2011 · Historical consumer allegation
• NCAA ticket deceptionPublished Oct 22, 2011 · Historical consumer allegation
• LiveNation Ent Sold tickets to an event after event had already taken place!Published Sep 12, 2011 · Historical consumer allegation
• Consumer ReportPublished Sep 4, 2011 · Historical consumer allegation
• Consumer ReportPublished Aug 26, 2011 · Historical consumer allegation
• Consumer ReportPublished Aug 26, 2011 · Historical consumer allegation
• Replaced purchased tickets (to accomodate handicap) with non accessible areaPublished Aug 11, 2011 · Historical consumer allegation
• Bait and Switch on Ticketmaster San Diego, CaliforniaPublished Jul 15, 2011 · Historical consumer allegation
• Wrong SeatingPublished Apr 28, 2011 · Historical consumer allegation
• Charging to my bank account a $9.00 fee for Entertainment Rewards I I knew nothing about for about a yearPublished Apr 19, 2011 · Historical consumer allegation
• Ordered lion king and got NOTHING New YorkPublished Mar 18, 2011 · Historical consumer allegation
• Ticketmaster Deceptive Charges, Horrendous Customer ServicePublished Mar 7, 2011 · Historical consumer allegation
• ScamPublished Dec 2, 2010 · Historical consumer allegation

Complaint Themes

Each tag reflects a complaint's single primary theme (not every angle it raised), and complaints outside any problem theme — a positive report, or one later retracted by its author — aren't tagged. Counts may total less than the full complaint count above.

Independent Sources

Shown for context — not merged with USAComplaints' own numbers.

Contacts

• Official website: https://www.ticketmaster.com/
• Help Center: contact, chat, email and phone options: https://help.ticketmaster.com/hc/en-us/articles/9605825450129-How-to-Contact-Us
• Terms and purchase policies: https://legal.ticketmaster.com/
• BBB-listed headquarters phone: 800-653-8000 5 complaints mention this number

Locations

Ticketmaster complaints: refunds, fees and where to escalate

This page was checked on 2026-10-20 against Ticketmaster's own Help Center and policy pages and public court records. What Ticketmaster's pages say about refunds is summarized first; the record of regulator and court activity follows.

• Refunds. The Help Center article 'How do I request a refund?' says: 'All sales are final. Event Organizers determine refund guidelines and are only allowed in limited circumstances.' It adds that if the Event Organizer has approved refunds, 'you’ll see a Request Refund button in your Ticketmaster Account' and that the refund goes to the original payment method, which 'should appear in your account within 5-7 business days depending on your bank’s processing time'.
• Canceled events. The Standard Purchase Policy (effective August 12, 2025) says: 'If an event is canceled, no action is required to obtain a refund; we will issue a refund (including for any additional Extras or upgrades, such as parking) to the original method of payment used at time of purchase after we receive funds from the Event Organizer.' For postponed, rescheduled or moved events the same policy says tickets remain valid and refunds or credits depend on the Event Organizer.
• What is not refunded. Section 16 of the policy lists 'expedited shipping charges, merchandise purchases, Fan Club membership fees, or any other amounts' as not refunded, says refunds go to the original payment method only, and says 'Requests for a refund or credit are final and cannot be changed once initiated.'
• What a refund covers. When a refund is approved, Section 16 says: 'We will issue a refund of the ticket price you paid, any additional Extras or upgrades (such as parking), and (typically) service fees.' If the Event Organizer offers a choice between a refund and a credit, the policy says 'you cannot get a partial refund' and the selection applies to the entire order; the Help Center article says the same for refunds generally ('it will apply to the entire order'). For postponed events, the policy says Ticketmaster's notification will include 'the date by which you must select an option'. The Help Center says refunds for canceled events 'should appear in your account within 14-21 days'.
• Add-ons and insurance. The Help Center says it cannot refund a Fan Club membership or merchandise that has been shipped or delivered, and suggests ticket insurance 'which offers refunds for covered reasons'; the Standard Purchase Policy says 'For any ticket insurance refunds, please contact the insurance provider.'
• Organizer exceptions. The policy says refund, credit and exchange policies for MLB games, the Masters and the US Open Tennis Championships 'are subject to policies set by the Event Organizer'.
• If you resold tickets. For a canceled event, the policy says that if you resold your tickets through Ticketmaster.com, Livenation.com or Ticketexchangebyticketmaster.com and were paid, 'your credit card on file will be charged to refund the buyer of your tickets'.
• Chargebacks. Section 16 says: 'This means that you agree not to seek a refund from us where the Event Organizer prohibits us from providing one, and not to seek a “chargeback” from any credit card or payment company you used to purchase tickets. If you do, we can cancel your tickets immediately.' The section continues that Ticketmaster 'may also refuse to honor pending and future purchases made from the credit card account or online account on which chargebacks were made'. Read this clause before disputing a charge with your card issuer.
• Fees. The Help Center article on prices says the price shown up front 'covers both the face value and required fees' (generally before taxes), and that delivery fees and taxes may be added at checkout ('In some states, this tax is included in the upfront price'). The Federal Trade Commission has sued over how prices were advertised; see the section on regulator actions.
• Contact. The Help Center page 'How to Contact Us' offers chat for ticket holders who sign in, an email option for people who cannot sign in, and a phone option. The phone number was not displayed when we read the page. BBB lists (800) 653-8000 for Ticketmaster, LLC; that number is BBB-listed and was not confirmed on a Ticketmaster page.
• Resale tickets. Tickets are marked either standard or resale. The Standard Purchase Policy applies only to standard tickets; resale purchases are covered by a separate Resale Purchase Policy (effective August 12, 2025) that says: 'When you buy a Secondary Ticket, you are purchasing the ticket from a reseller. We are not a party to the contract between you and the reseller.' For a canceled event it says Ticketmaster will refund 'to the original method of payment used at time of purchase after we receive funds from the reseller', and that printed paper (hard stock) Resale Tickets 'must be returned to us' before a refund can be processed. If an event is postponed, rescheduled or moved, the policy says a purchased Resale Ticket (as opposed to a Verified Resale Ticket) is still valid and 'will not be refunded'; Verified Resale Tickets follow the Event Organizer's refund or credit decision. The policy has separate refund provisions for Secondary Tickets to Illinois and New York events. The Help Center pricing article says resale tickets are 'Priced by the reseller who sets the base ticket price and earns all proceeds minus fees', and that for capped 'face value exchange' tickets 'Ticketmaster does not charge any resale fees'.
• Identity checks. NBC Chicago reported on August 17, 2026 (updated August 18) that Ticketmaster uses the verification company Persona; the report quotes a Ticketmaster statement that 'In some cases where atypical activity is associated with an account, fans may be asked to complete a quick selfie check or, more rarely, provide a government-issued photo ID.' This is the company's description as reported.
• Outside complaint routes. BBB accepts complaints against Ticketmaster, LLC (see the complaint record section). The FTC's ReportFraud.ftc.gov page invites people to report 'a company' and describes collecting reports about fraud and 'bad business practices'. Your state attorney general's consumer protection office is another route.

Keep order confirmations, the event page as it appeared at checkout, screenshots of the price breakdown and all messages with Ticketmaster.

FTC lawsuit and the antitrust case brought by the Justice Department and states

FTC and seven states (consumer protection). Live Nation's quarterly report for the period ended June 30, 2026 states that in September 2025 the Federal Trade Commission, 'joined by the attorneys general of seven states', sued Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. and Ticketmaster L.L.C. in the Central District of California. According to that filing, the plaintiffs allege that the companies 'advertised ticket prices to consumers that were deceptively lower than prices displayed at checkout, deceived consumers about the enforcement of advertised event ticket purchase limits and facilitated the sale of tickets unlawfully acquired by ticket brokers', and that the companies violated the Better Online Ticket Sales Act and Section 5 of the FTC Act and state consumer protection laws. The plaintiffs seek injunctive relief, statutory penalties and restitution for consumers. The company says it will 'vigorously defend itself' and that it does not believe a loss is probable at this time. The FTC's press release (dated September 18, 2025) names the states as Virginia, Utah, Florida, Tennessee, Nebraska, Illinois and Colorado, and says the FTC alleges that mandatory fees totaled $16.4 billion from 2019 to 2024; that figure is the FTC's allegation and is not combined with any other figure on this page. These are allegations; no court has found that the companies violated these laws.

The CourtListener docket for Federal Trade Commission v. Live Nation Entertainment, Inc., No. 2:25-cv-08884 (C.D. Cal.), shows an order entered on September 28, 2026 that reads in part: 'Defendant’s Motion is DENIED as to each claim.' The docket shows an order setting a scheduling conference for October 29, 2026 (entry 128), a joint Rule 26(f) report filed on October 13, 2026 (entry 134) and an answer to the complaint filed by Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. and Ticketmaster L.L.C. on October 13, 2026 (entry 135). Music Business Worldwide reported on October 15, 2026 that the answer calls the lawsuit 'misguided', denies the factual allegations it does not specifically admit, and says Ticketmaster 'now employs all-in pricing'; that is the companies' position as reported. Denial of a motion to dismiss means the case continues; it is not a ruling on whether the allegations are true.

Justice Department, states and jury verdict (antitrust). The same quarterly report says the U.S. Department of Justice and a group of state attorneys general sued Live Nation and Ticketmaster in the Southern District of New York in May 2024 over alleged antitrust violations. The case went to trial in March 2026. 'Early in the trial' the company entered a binding term sheet with the United States; the filing says the settlement provides 'injunctive and structural relief addressing all of the United States’ claims' and initially a $280 million fund for plaintiff states, and that six more states later settled for shares of the fund totaling approximately $18.6 million. A Proposed Final Judgment was filed on June 12, 2026, and the filing says the court must approve it under the Tunney Act. The latest Tunney Act entry we saw on the CourtListener docket (last updated October 16, 2026) was an August 4, 2026 order denying without prejudice the remaining states' request for Tunney Act discovery.

The remaining states and the District of Columbia continued to trial. The filing says that on April 15, 2026 the jury returned a verdict for them 'on all claims that remained', with damages measured per ticket sold but 'without calculating the number of tickets to which the damages would be applied'. The company says it believes the verdict and damages award are 'legally infirm in a number of respects', raised post-trial motions (argument scheduled July 31, 2026) and intends to appeal to the Second Circuit as needed. The company recognized $450 million for the six months ended June 30, 2026 as its estimate of the ultimate loss associated with the settling states and the jury's damages award. The docket entries we scanned through October 16, 2026 did not show a ruling on the Rule 50(b) and Rule 59 post-trial motions, which were fully briefed by July 2, 2026, or an order approving the Proposed Final Judgment under the Tunney Act; the docket shows a September 3, 2026 letter attaching public comments on the proposed consent decree and a September 24, 2026 letter motion by a group of states to compel document production. Remedies proceedings were pending. This case concerns competition in ticketing and live events, not an individual refund.

Who operates Ticketmaster

The Standard Purchase Policy says: 'When you purchase a ticket for an event taking place in the United States, Ticketmaster LLC will be handling the transaction and collecting payment for the Event Organizer,' and describes the company as 'a ticketing service provider; we generally sell tickets for other people.' For events in Canada, 'Ticketmaster Canada LP' handles the transaction. The policy defines its marketplace as including ticketmaster.com, livenation.com and ticketexchangebyticketmaster.com.

BBB lists Ticketmaster, LLC, headquarters at 9348 Civic Center Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90210-3624, with a business start of 1976-01-01 and an incorporation date of 1983-01-24 in its raw page data (read 2026-10-20). Live Nation Entertainment, Inc., a Delaware company listed on the NYSE (ticker LYV) with the same Beverly Hills address, describes Ticketmaster L.L.C. as its subsidiary in a May 2024 Form 8-K (Item 8.01).

Under the Help Center's pricing article, the face value of a ticket 'is determined by the Event Organizer', and the up-front price includes required fees such as a service fee and, for some events, a venue facility charge that 'Ticketmaster does not keep any portion of'. The article says service fees 'are generally negotiated and shared between various parties involved in organizing the event and may include a profit to them.'

Complaint record: BBB, Trustpilot and this site's archive

Figures below are as displayed on 2026-10-20 and are not added together. Different sources count different things.

• BBB (Ticketmaster, LLC, Beverly Hills, CA): BBB Accredited Business, A+ rating. The complaints tab shows '6,970 complaints in the last 3 years. 1,386 complaints in the last 12 months.' The reviews tab shows '1.06 /5 stars' with an 'Average of 775 Customer Reviews'. BBB page data lists an accreditation date of 2025-12-19. BBB shows one Government Action alert on the profile, referring to the FTC case filed September 18, 2025. BBB states that complaint text shown may not represent all complaints filed.
• Trustpilot (ticketmaster.com): 3.8 from 91,553 reviews, including 6,711 in the last 12 months; the profile is claimed (since Jun 2020). Trustpilot states it does not fact-check reviews, and shows that the company invites customers to review and 'Hasn't replied to negative reviews'.
• This site's archive: 113 approved complaints name Ticketmaster as the offender (posted 1999 to 2013). They are unverified consumer accounts, not findings. Themes by keyword match: refund or cancellation disputes (46 posts), brokers, scalpers or resale redirects (26), service, handling or delivery charges (23), unauthorized monthly charges including Entertainment Rewards (23), and tickets not delivered or wrong seats (20). A post can match more than one theme.
• Entertainment Rewards. 75 further archive posts (2005 to 2010) name both Entertainment Rewards and Ticketmaster; their authors say a monthly charge appeared after a Ticketmaster purchase. These are linked as mentions only. We did not review Ticketmaster's current pages for any such program, and the relationship between the two companies is described only by the posters.

Consumer class actions, arbitration and the 2024 data incident

Consumer antitrust class actions. Live Nation's quarterly report says it is a defendant in three putative consumer antitrust class actions. In Heckman, et al. v. Live Nation Entertainment, et al. (C.D. Cal., filed January 2022) the district court denied a motion to compel arbitration in August 2023, the Ninth Circuit affirmed in October 2024, a motion to dismiss was granted in part and denied in part in April 2025, and the court granted class certification in December 2025. In two Southern District of New York cases filed in August and September 2024, In re Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. and Ticketmaster L.L.C. Antitrust Litigation and Jacobson v. Live Nation Entertainment, Inc., the court granted the company's motion to compel arbitration in June 2026 and stayed both cases pending arbitration. The company says it has substantial defenses in all three.

Arbitration clause. The Standard Purchase Policy states that 'Section 14 of the Terms contains an arbitration agreement and class action waiver' under which, with limited exceptions, disputes are resolved 'through binding arbitration—and not in court or through a class action lawsuit or class action arbitration.' Read the Terms of Use at legal.ticketmaster.com for the current wording.

2024 data incident. In a Form 8-K filed May 31, 2024 (date of report May 20, 2024), Live Nation reported that on May 20, 2024 it 'identified unauthorized activity within a third-party cloud database environment containing Company data (primarily from its Ticketmaster L.L.C. subsidiary)', and that on May 27, 2024 'a criminal threat actor offered what it alleged to be Company user data for sale via the dark web'. The company said it was notifying regulators and users as appropriate and did not believe the incident was reasonably likely to have a material impact on its business or financial results. We did not review the notices sent to individuals.

Brazil. TicketNews reported on October 20, 2026 that Ticketmaster confirmed a data breach affecting customers in Brazil who bought tickets during 2025, through a third-party analytics system, with customer notices beginning October 14; the company statement quoted there says the ticket sales platform and fan account systems were not affected. This was reported for customers in Brazil and is not described in that article as involving U.S. Ticketmaster LLC accounts.

Is Ticketmaster Legitimate?

Ticketmaster, LLC is listed by BBB at 9348 Civic Center Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90210-3624, with a BBB Accredited Business designation and an A+ rating as displayed on 2026-10-20. Live Nation Entertainment, Inc., which describes Ticketmaster L.L.C. as its subsidiary, files annual and quarterly reports with the SEC, and its Standard Purchase Policy identifies Ticketmaster LLC as the party handling U.S. ticket transactions.

The same sources show disputes: a pending FTC and state consumer protection lawsuit that has survived a motion to dismiss, a state antitrust jury verdict the company is contesting, and thousands of BBB complaints in the last three years. Those are allegations and unresolved proceedings, not final findings. Resale listings are priced by the reseller, and refunds depend on the Event Organizer's policy, so read the ticket type and event policy before paying.

Court & Public Records

Related Complaints

Names this company in a role other than the primary subject — not necessarily current or complete.

• Named as an affiliate: Unscrupulous corporate collusion to mislead ticket buyers into Entertainment Rewards club enrollment and refusal to refund unautherized charges
• Named as an affiliate: Ticketmaster.com - Entertainment Rewards Ticketmaster and Entertainment rewards SCAM
• Named as an affiliate: Takes out 9 dollars a month from my bank. Maple Road
• Named as an affiliate: $400 unauthorized charge to a company I've never dealt with
• Named as an affiliate: Entertainment Rewards - ENT - ENTERTAINMNTREWRDS As Appears On Card deceptive fraudulet charges tied to ticketmaster Troy Michigan
• Named as an affiliate: Stealing money from my credit card every month Kansas City
• Named as an affiliate: Charged my Credit Card $9.00 for a service I did not authorize, let alone know about! Michigan?
• Named as an affiliate: Ticketmaster - ENT - Entertainment Rewards RIP OFF SCAM Birmingham
• Named as an affiliate: I bought concert tickets and got ripped off in the process! Ticketmaster allows another co to take your bank info!
• Named as an affiliate: Ticketmaster & Entertainment Revwards Ticketmaster & Entertainment Revwards Unauthorized Charge Fresno
• Named as an affiliate: I purchased Sugarland tickets through ticketmaster and just received a credit card bill for $9.00 a month being charged to me by Entertainment Rewards.internet
• Named as an affiliate: They were charging my debt card which I had no idea until I asked the bank Houston Texas
• Named as an affiliate: Entertainment Rewards have taken a $9 payment out of my account but never deliver any type of reward at all
• Named as an affiliate: Ticketmaster, Entertainment Rewards, Internet Scam, Unauthorized charges Tory
• Named as an affiliate: Scammmmm Ripoff
• Named as an affiliate: Ticketmaster/Entertainment Rewards After Buying tickets, ticketmaster scams you with $9/month charges ripoff
• Named as an affiliate: Scam, fraudulent charges. Ticketmaster and Entertainment Rewards have a cozy relationship! Ripoff
• Named as an affiliate: Ripoff Fraudulent charges Charging $9 a month Unauthorized Charges
• Named as an affiliate: Entertainment Rewards - Ticket Master ripoff fraudulent billing ticketmaster scam
• Named as an affiliate: Unauthorized $9.00 charges to credit card ripoff

Company Relationships

• Owned by: Live Nation Entertainment, Inc.
• Affiliated with: Ticketmaster Canada LP

Frequently Asked Questions