StubHub: billing error

Collect

• screenshots of the listed price and the checkout total
• order confirmation
• card statement

Steps

1. Compare the total price shown when you chose the tickets with the amount charged. Save screenshots.

2. Ask StubHub to refund any amount above the total price it showed.

   ChatContact customer service (help center page with chat, email and phone options)

3. If you bought live-event tickets in the U.S. between May 12 and 14, 2025, StubHub refunds certain fees automatically under the FTC settlement; look for StubHub's email and check any contact in it against stubhub.com before you use it.

4. If StubHub does not correct a charge above the agreed total, send a billing-error dispute to the card issuer (rule fcba-billing-error).

5. Report hidden or misrepresented fees to the FTC. District of Columbia and Pennsylvania residents can also complain to their attorney general, who has sued StubHub over its fees.

   RegulatorFederal Trade Commission +1-877-382-4357

More contacts for this issue

Facts you can cite

• Policy

  On April 9, 2026 the FTC announced that StubHub will pay $10 million to settle charges that it violated the FTC Act and the Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees by advertising ticket prices, including high-demand NFL tickets around May 14, 2025, without the total price in its first pricing displays. The order bars StubHub from misrepresenting the total price or any fee and requires it to show the total price clearly and conspicuously.

  Source: ftc.gov, verified 2026-10-13

• Compensation

  The FTC says consumers who bought tickets for live events in the U.S. between May 12 and 14, 2025 do not need to take action: StubHub will automatically refund certain fees to eligible consumers within 90 days, and eligible customers will get an email from StubHub with a phone number and website.

  Source: consumer.ftc.gov, verified 2026-10-13

• Process

  The FTC case page lists FTC v. StubHub Holdings, Inc., No. 1:26-cv-02924 (S.D.N.Y.), status Under Order; the stipulated order was entered April 10, 2026.

  Source: ftc.gov, verified 2026-10-13

• Policy

  The DC Attorney General sued StubHub on July 31, 2024 for drip pricing: advertising a low price and adding mandatory "fulfillment and service" fees late in checkout. The office estimates about $118 million in hidden fees on nearly 5 million tickets sold to District consumers since 2015 and seeks restitution and penalties.

  Source: oag.dc.gov, verified 2026-10-13

• Policy

  StubHub's quarterly report for the period ended June 30, 2026 says the DC complaint was served on August 1, 2024, the matter is ongoing, and StubHub accrued a liability of $8.0 million for it. It also says the Monroe County (Pennsylvania) District Attorney's complaint about its all-in pricing feature survived a motion to dismiss on January 20, 2026, the Pennsylvania Attorney General joined with its own complaint, and on May 5, 2026 that office proposed a settlement with injunctive relief and restitution.

  Source: sec.gov, verified 2026-10-13

Rules in force

• Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act (ROSCA) negative option requirements
  15 U.S.C. 8401-8405

  A seller that charges consumers online through a negative option feature (for example an automatic renewal or a free trial that converts to paid) must clearly disclose all material terms before taking billing information, get the consumer's express informed consent before charging, and provide simple mechanisms to stop recurring charges. The FTC enforces ROSCA.

  Source: law.cornell.edu, verified 2026-10-12

  1 citable point

  • Policy

    The seller must obtain "a consumer's express informed consent before charging the consumer's credit card, debit card, bank account, or other financial account".

    Source: law.cornell.edu, verified 2026-10-12

If that fails, escalate

Go up one step at a time. Keep the reference numbers and dates from each contact.

1. Customer service

   ChatContact customer service (help center page with chat, email and phone options)

2. Written complaint

   ChatContact customer service (help center page with chat, email and phone options)

   Use the email option and quote the order number and the FanProtect Guarantee terms.

3. Card or bank dispute

   Fair Credit Billing Act billing-error and purchase-dispute rights (Regulation Z)

   Electronic Fund Transfer Act error resolution and unauthorized-transfer liability (Regulation E)

   Card dispute for a cancelled event that was not refunded (rule fcba-billing-error).

4. Federal regulator

   RegulatorFederal Trade Commission +1-877-382-4357

5. State agency

   Your state’s attorney general. Find it in the list of state agencies (also as JSON: states/<code>.json, for example states/ny.json).

   Several attorneys general have acted on StubHub refunds and fees (DC, California, Pennsylvania and a 2021 multistate group).

Watch out

Related

• Billing error at other companies
• How StubHub complaints actually go (dossier, checked 2026-10-13)
• Event tickets and resale — how complaints work
• StubHub: event cancelled, postponed or changed
• StubHub: refund request
• StubHub: unauthorized charge