Longtime friends wrestle with Ticketmaster to get their money back from Styx, Foreigner concert canceled over power outage | Call Kurtis
DAVIS – A CBS13 viewer was left disappointed when a summer Styx and Foreigner concert in the East Bay was canceled due to a power outage. When Ticketmaster refused to refund them, she called Kurtis.
Vicki LaBourdette loves listening to music from the late 1970s and early '80s. In fact, she still has the ticket stub from the California Jam Concert at the Ontario Motor Speedway back in 1978.
"It brings back memories of my childhood, you know?" LaBourdette told us. "It brings me back to a time in my life."
The Davis resident and her longtime friend were in the crowd watching Foreigner at that concert 46 years ago. Months earlier, she attended a Styx concert in Long Beach.
That is why she and that same friend – who now lives in Bakersfield – bought tickets to reunite in Concord in June, when Styx and Foreigner were set to perform together at the Concord Pavilion.
But, on that sizzling hot June evening, the electricity failed at the Concord Pavilion.
Did LaBourdette and her friend get to see their childhood rock groups? Did they even hear a single note?
"Not one, not one," LaBourdette said.
The friends were disappointed.
"Oh my gosh, I just.. it's never happened to me before," LaBourdette added. "You know, you go to a concert, you go to a concert. This is the first time that's ever happened to me like this. So very disappointing."
The pair ate the expense of the cost of the drive to Concord, along with their hotel room, dinner and the premium concert parking that cost $90 – on top of the cost of the concert tickets.
LaBourdette said it was announced that the tickets would remain valid for when the event was rescheduled. But she showed us her emails, proving that no one let her know that the postponed concert even happened two days later.
She said she and her friend couldn't have attended anyway, so they asked for their $359 back, including parking.
LaBourdette said Ticketmaster said no. All sales were final.
What did she think about Ticketmaster and the way they handled this?
"That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of," she said. "I mean, I can understand if I was sick or whatever and that I couldn't go. And then I try to get the money back. I mean, I get that, but not if it's something like this where the concert shut down."
Previously, we've reported on how states and the U.S. Attorney General are suing Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation, claiming they have too much power and influence over the live concert industry. The government says you lose when you don't have choices, which lead to higher prices.
"We allege that Live Nation has illegally monopolized markets across the live concert industry in the United States for far too long," U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said. "It is time to break it up."
CBS13 reached out to Ticketmaster about LaBourdette's refund request. Within an hour, the company refunded her money.
LaBourdette said she will never attend another concert if Ticketmaster is the exclusive ticket seller.
"I don't like the way I was treated, and I just think it's very unfair," she said. "And I'm sure a lot of people lost money that night."
Ticketmaster said event organizers determine refund guidelines, and in this case, they offered refunds for two days until the rescheduled event happened.
LaBourdette said she was never notified of that.
Ticketmaster claimed the refund, in this case, was done as a one-time courtesy.
"We're happy we were able to help Ms. LaBourdette obtain a refund," Ticketmaster said in a statement. "In the event of a postponement, we advise fans to check their inbox, as well as spam folder, for a notification detailing rescheduled dates, refund options and how to request them."
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