Aussie sisters reach resolution with Ticketmaster after Ariana Grande blunder left them with $80,000 charge
After a "frustrating" ordeal recuperating $80,000 of unexpected credit card charges from a Ticketmaster blunder, two Aussie sisters have finally received a happy outcome.
Jade Campbell, 24, and her sister Chloe, 18, were shocked to find out that 16 separate charges totalling close to six figures had been made to their credit cards last week.
The charges were made after two VIP tickets they purchased for Ariana Grande's tour in Montreal from Ticketmaster Canada's resale platform had been voided due to an incorrect suspicion of fraud.
Sisters Jade Campbell (R) and Chloe Campbell (L) have reached a happy outcome after a "frustrating" Ticketmaster blunder. Supplied/ Jade Campbell
The sisters were devastated; not only by the charges, but also the fact that they might have lost out on a chance to see their idol at all.
But after spending almost a week chasing answers from the entertainment retailer, the Campbells were this morning provided with two tickets to Grande's Montreal show free of charge.
"I think it's definitely a good resolution – we actually have tickets, which is the best part," Jade tells nine.com.au, confirming that Ticketmaster also confirmed that the various charges have been reversed.
The outcome came about after the siblings, who are based in Brisbane, attempted to coordinate with Ticketmaster to obtain alternate tickets for the concert after their initial tickets were voided.
The ticket retailer had agreed to honour new tickets at the price they had originally paid after they were mistakenly cancelled, given tickets on the resale platform are notoriously expensive.
Jade tells nine.com.au that she and her sister were advised to purchase the new tickets from the platform and would be refunded the difference once the payment had gone through.
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But with so much of their money still caught up in pending transactions (as they wait for it to be reversed) they refused to do so.
"I was like, 'Absolutely not, you still have $40,000 from us'," Jade says, explaining that she "didn't want to give [the platform] additional money" with some of the tickets available on the resale platform reaching "$10,000 each".
Jade was told the retailer would endeavour to find a solution and this morning, her sister Chloe received a call informing them that they would be given the tickets for free.
They're not the same front row VIP tickets that they had initially purchased, but Jade says this was the best the company could offer.
Jade and Chloe Campbell have now been supplied with two free tickets Supplied/ Jade Campbell
"They tried to get us the VIP tickets but they couldn't for some reason, so [they] said just to make up for it they would just give it to us for free," Jade says.
"We're glad we could step in to make it right and get her to the show next year," a Ticketmaster spokesperson told nine.com.au.
Now that the situation has been resolved, Jade says she feels "so much better".
"This does make up for it but obviously it's still been a sh-t situation.
Jade and her sister spent almost a week attempting to resolve the situation and contacted Ticketmaster on several occasions, but they say communication with the retailer's customer service was difficult.
Jade explained the situation in a TikTok video. TikTok/ @_jadecampbell
The pair eventually shared their frustration to TikTok in a series of videos which have since gone viral.
Jade believes it was this online attention that helped push them towards a resolution.
"I was quite disappointed with how they treated us because they would hang up on us on the phone every single time we called," Jade says.
"I think it wasn't until our TikTok started to blow up that they were like – we need to handle this."
According to a Ticketmaster staffer who spoke to Jade, the retailer intends to use Jade and her sister's incident to inform customer service training within the company.
They've now reached a positive outcome and will be jetting off to Montreal next year to see their idol in concert with free third row seats, but Jade says the experience has left her wary.
"I'm still definitely going to be cautious after this because, I mean... you just don't know," Jade says, explaining that she is now particularly sceptical about resale tickets from the platform.
A Ticketmaster spokesperson said in a statement to nine.com.au: "We thank Ms Campbell for her continued patience as we worked to resolve this issue and apologise for the delay."
"Our fraud flags have the best intentions to protect fans and, in this case, responded to unusual behaviour based on the purchase amount and distance from her billing address."
There is still no explanation as to why so many charges were made to their credit cards. Supplied/ Jade Campbell
Ticketmaster has not yet explained to nine.com.au or Jade and her sister what caused the various credit card charges.
"I really would love to know what caused that glitch... we go to concerts all the time and never want this to happen again," Jade says.
It's advised that if anyone wants to purchase tickets to overseas concerts in future, they contact their bank in advance so the transaction goes through smoothly.
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