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In his Monday chat, Derrick Goold had several exchanges with fans anxious to secure refunds on Cardinals tickets purchased:
Q: Why have the Cardinals not refunded money for the games that haven’t been played (opening Day, specifically). Doesn’t this amount to stealing?
A: Because those games aren’t cancelled yet. They are postponed. It’s not stealing. It’s fine print. And it’s lousy, and it’s not great for the ticket-buyers, but it’s why the teams are trying to play as many games as possible this year and why they are using the language there are: postponed, not cancelled. The games in London were cancelled. And those tickets were refunded, for example.
Another fan came back to this topic later in the chat.
Q: I Understand the language on the tickets, about postponement vs cancellations. Opening day tickets should be held to a higher standard, relative to the higher price we paid for them.
A: I understand what you’re saying, and you’re not wrong. You’re just not going to overcome the language of the tickets. I have a received a lot of emails in the past few weeks that demand that MLB and the owners:
— Take care of MiLB players, like they should.
— Take care of game-day staff at ballpark, even if they’re not club employees and are hired by another party.
— Refund all ticket purchases.
I get it. I do. Baseball owners make a lot of money and are worth a lot of money and as a billions-of-dollars industry should do whatever is possible to help as many people at this time as possible.
This is a difficult financial time for everyone, businesses and citizens. One of the great newspapers has been reduced to four staff members. It’s public knowledge that The Post-Dispatch will have some adjustments coming in the next few weeks because of the financial implications of reduced ad revenue. Heck, some have started this week. Getting a refund on tickets purchased would be a great help to many many families who now find themselves in a different financial situation than a month ago, two months ago, Christmas time, whenever.
That said, none of the above things being asked about include what the Cardinals do with their own full-time employees, like ballpark operations, analytics department, and the coaches and scouts and support staff in baseball operations. On and on. The more we pull this thread the more baseball looks like another business trying to cope with the situation. And that means making the decisions they’re allowed to make and using “postponed” when possible.
I purchased tickets to two concerts. Neither of which is happening. It’s possible neither happens, ever. But they’re postponed. Not cancelled. So, I wait. It’s not ideal. And I’d like to champion the refunds, I would. But I can’t fault a business doing what it’s permitted to do.I looked into this and learned something else entirely, news that can benefit some of you. The Cardinals, will in fact, issue refunds – but only if you ask. They would prefer you take a credit for future use, but will give you your money back if you prefer.
Contact tickets@cardinals.com with your pertinent information. including your account number and/or CRDV from your order. They will reply and work out the details with you. I have been told that the money will be credited back to your payment account in 8-10 business days.
A general announcement about this has NOT been made. Because of that, there is no “fine print” to reference. However, I have written confirmation of refunds being issued.
While refunds have been given for regular season single-game tickets for dates in April and May, I do not know if there are any calendar restrictions going forward. It is also unknown if the refund policy applies to multi-game packages, including season tickets. If readers pursue these avenues with the team, please share your experiences here so others can benefit.
My guess is that the team would prefer to hold your money as long as possible in the hope conditions improve enough to allow home games to be played later. But even if so, fans would have to assess the health risk of attending in person and make a decision best for each individual.
It appears you do have a choice – if you ask.
Creativity…
The Chicago White Sox have offered season ticket holders 5 percent interest on their money being held for 2020 if games are not played and they let it roll over to 2021.
— Bruce Levine (@MLBBruceLevine) April 20, 2020
Fan lawsuit against MLB, all teams for not refunding ticket money…
A reminder that in a recent P-D article, Bill DeWitt acknowledged that the Cardinals are working with ticket buyers on an individual basis. Just because there has been no announcement does not mean that refunds are not being given.
However, teams are losing fan goodwill by holding onto their money for games everyone knows will not be played.
The optics of sports leagues and teams' next actions regarding paid-for but probably never-used tickets may frame how their most loyal fans feel about them. https://t.co/FHGIZ4xWKR
— USA TODAY Sports (@usatodaysports) April 26, 2020
Ahh, the word of the day is “postponed” and the expression of the day is “possession is nine-tenths of the law.”
Some teams have a great sense of humor by ignoring refund requests while sending out invoices for 2021 tickets to those same people.
clarify, 858, did you buy Cardinals tickets, request a refund and was denied?
Oh sorry! Seeing as I reside in San Diego. Ever since 2007 I’ve partaken in every Padres opening day. This year I purchased 2 tickets and as of a few days ago I haven’t seen anything on how the money will be compensated. It’s not a huge deal but I would like to know how they intend on reimbursement.
Thankfully I didn’t purchase any other tickets for my trip home this week. I figured Stubhub would be an easy place during the week and I’d considered driving up to Milwaukee for the Sunday night game and taking my nephew and my buddy and his son and playing hookie from his on-line curriculum on Monday.
I don’t subscribe to the LA Times, but this appears to formalize what the Cardinals were doing informally already.
MLB reverses ticket policy, clearing way for teams to offer refunds to fans: https://t.co/Bz5dliI2Kk
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) April 28, 2020
Here is another link to the same article.
https://news.yahoo.com/mlb-reverses-ticket-policy-clearing-164002798.html
April/May ticket refunds are official.
https://www.mlb.com/cardinals/tickets/refund?affiliateId=stl-refunds-panel-042920
Copy that. Just got word from the head of our season ticket group that we will be getting our refunds shortly for any games we had in April and May.
For those of you located in other MLB cities, not all teams are being as straightforward as the Cardinals, but this may help.
#MLB teams would surely rather keep your COVID-19 postponement cash than issue a refund; that word is omitted in some policies or, in the Mets' case, buried 1,000 words deep. Breaking down how to get your money back from almost every team.https://t.co/hnq7Hz55wF
— Gabe Lacques (@GabeLacques) April 30, 2020
If detail in this man’s Tweets are accurate, fans who bought MLB tickets through StubHub are not getting refunds.
https://twitter.com/don_shano/status/1255605169015963648
This is the case despite MLB trumpeting StubHub as “The Official Fan-to-Fan Ticket Marketplace of MLB.com”.
https://www.mlb.com/tickets/stubhub/buyer-faq
Q: What is the StubHub FanProtect™ guarantee?
For buyers, StubHub guarantees:
You’ll get the tickets you ordered in time for the event and they’ll be valid for entry.
If that doesn’t happen, we will locate comparable replacement tickets or send you a refund.
You’ll get a refund if your event is cancelled and not rescheduled.Two weeks after MLB made its policy shift to allow club ticket refunds, the Nats are finally heard from. It's a generous offer relative to the rest of the league, but again, a clear sign they really, really don't want you to take the refund. https://t.co/HSHoW5EABl
— Eric Fisher (@AEricFisher) May 12, 2020
Seems like a mess. To me they should have issued refunds without being asked. Then said as soon as we have a revised schedule, we will start set a date to start the ticket process over again. In the case of season pass holders, they could have offered a full refund or ask if the person would rather wait and get a partial refund once season started. I have this problem with an amusement park I bought season passes for. They came out and said we would get some minor things but they don’t amount to much. To me they should have offered a full refund or extend the season passes into next year at least halfway through the season.
Cardinals Announce Ticket Refund Policy for June Games
CARDINALS ANNOUNCE TICKET REFUND POLICY FOR JULY-SEPTEMBER GAMES
The St. Louis Cardinals have announced the following ticket refund policy for July, August, and September games at Busch Stadium impacted by COVID-19:
SEASON TICKET HOLDERS (Full, Half and 27-Game Plans)
Season Ticket Holders will receive an account credit to be used on a future game. If a refund is desired, Season Ticket Holders should email contact their personal Account Executive, or email seasonticketrefunds@cardinals.com.
SINGLE-GAME TICKETS & THEME TICKETS
Single-game and Theme Ticket buyers will be refunded the full purchase price, including all fees. This refund will be automatically returned via the original form of payment used for purchase. Tickets do not need to be returned to receive the refund, unless purchased with cash or Cardinals gift card in person at the Busch Stadium Box Office.
10-GAME, 6-GAME & 5-GAME TICKET PACKS
Pack buyers will receive a pro-rated refund based on the number of impacted games within the pack. This refund will be automatically returned via the original form of payment used for purchase. Pack tickets do not need to be returned to receive the refund, unless purchased with cash or Cardinals gift card in person at the Busch Stadium Box Office.
ALL-INCLUSIVE & PARTY SUITE TICKETS
All-Inclusive and Party Suite ticket buyers will be refunded the full purchase price, including all fees. This refund will be automatically returned via the original form of payment used for purchase. All-Inclusive/Party Suite tickets do not need to be returned to receive the refund, unless purchased with cash or Cardinals gift card in person at the Busch Stadium Box Office.
LUXURY SUITE TICKETS
Cardinals Luxury Suite holders will be contacted directly by a Cardinals representative regarding their suite refund options.
CONSIGNMENT GROUP TICKETS (300+ Tickets)
Group Leader will be contacted directly by a Cardinals representative regarding their specific group ticket refund options.
SMALL GROUP TICKETS (20-299 Tickets)
Small Group Ticket holders will be refunded the full purchase price, including all fees. This refund will be automatically returned via the original form of payment used for purchase. Tickets do not need to be returned to receive the refund, unless purchased with cash or Cardinals gift card in person at the Busch Stadium Box Office.
CASH/GIFT CARD TICKET PURCHASES AT BUSCH STADIUM
Tickets purchased in person at the Busch Stadium Box Office with cash or Cardinals gift cards will need to be returned in order to receive a refund. Fans holding these tickets can utilize the printable refund form found at cardinals.com/refund to obtain a refund via mail.
STUBHUB & OTHER SECONDARY MARKET TICKET PURCHASES
Fans who purchased tickets on StubHub, or any other secondary ticket provider, should contact the provider’s customer service staff regarding their impacted game tickets. The Cardinals are not able to facilitate any credits, exchanges or refunds for tickets not purchased directly through the Cardinals.
A list of impacted games are as follows:
July 1-2 vs. Nationals
July 3-5 vs. Brewers
July 17-19 vs. Yankees
July 20-22 vs. Giants
July 23-26 vs. Cubs
August 7-9 vs. Reds
August 10-12 vs. Pirates
August 14-16 vs. Brewers
August 28-30 vs. Pirates
August 31 vs. Phillies
September 1-3 vs. Phillies
September 10-13 vs. Cubs
September 15-16 vs. Royals
September 21-23 vs. BrewersFans can view all of our ticket refund information at cardinals.com/update. For any additional ticketing questions, fans are encouraged to contact us via email at tickets@cardinals.com or by calling 314.345.9000.
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