Michael Jackson’s Death Leads To Questions Over Ticket Refunds

Not even 24 hours after the sudden death of pop legend Michael Jackson, people are already starting to talk about ticket refunds for his planning stay at London’s O2.  Concert promoter AEG Live is expected to make an official announcement soon but others in the ticket industry are already speaking out on the issue.

In total approximately 750,000 tickets had been sold for the events in London and that totally roughly $85 million in sales.  Ticketmaster UK was the main processor of primary tickets and have said they have no information currently but will address customers.  Customers who currently hold tickets for the show have been instructed by the O2 arena to hold onto them.

The official resale and premium ticket site for the event, Viagogo, has announced to fans that they can expect a full refund in a timely manner.  The site reportedly listed around 50,000 tickets for the 50 shows and approximately half of them sold. 

“All Michael Jackson tickets purchased through viagogo will be refunded directly to fans. No forms, no fuss, just refunded,” said the viagogo statement, in part. “We will be in touch with everyone in due course.”

Another UK ticket company, Seatwave, has sold around 3% of sales for the Jackson shows.  According to Forbes they will be refunding $3-$4 Million to customers.  

“At this time, we would like to reassure you that your Michael Jackson ticket purchase is fully covered by our TicketCover guarantee,” read Seatwave’s statement in part. Seatwave is asking ticketholders to complete a reimbursement claim form that can be found on their Michael Jackson information page.

The news of Jackson’s death has also hit auction sites such as eBay UK.  The site quickly started pulling down listings ass soon as the news broke.  

“We understand that buyers are keen to receive a refund due to the cancellation of the concerts. We recommend that in the first instance buyers contact sellers to request refunds,” said eBay in its statement. “We strongly recommend to sellers that they refund the full purchase price of all tickets they have sold. We would also ask buyers to be patient and allow sellers time to process refund requests.”

eBay will be giving full refunds to any purchases made through Paypal within the last 45 days since it is covered under the Paypal protection policy.  Any tickets sold prior to May 13 will need to wait as eBay is still looking into its options.