Woman says Ticketmaster refuses to refund close to $800 New Kids on the Block ticket over bank issue

By Brandon Rowe and Meredith Bond

When the New Kids on the Block cancelled their Toronto concert at Scotiabank Arena last week, one mega fan was disappointed to miss out on the show, but she was even more upset when she realized a Ticketmaster requirement would keep her from receiving a refund for her close to $800 ticket.

The band cancelled their show on July 13, a week before the July 20 show, due to “circumstances outside their control.”

“It is unfortunately impossible to present our show the way it is intended,” the band wrote on Twitter.

“Therefore, we will not be able to bring the Mixtape Tour to Toronto. We hope to be back as soon as possible and look forward to seeing you on the road soon,” read the statement.

The original Toronto show had already been postponed from June 22.

Debbie Van Luven, a fan for nearly 10 years, had purchased tickets for the show as soon as they became available, even splurging for a meet and greet the band.

“I was so happy,” Van Luven said.

“Her grandmother had left her some money. And she was going back and forth on what to do with it. And then she heard that the concert was coming and she said ‘Mom, I’m going to treat myself. Nana would have wanted me to do this.’ because her Nana knew that she was a huge fan,” shared Van Luven’s mother, Lorri Bourgeois.

When she found out the show had been cancelled, she was devastated. “[It is] really upsetting.”

Ticketmaster announced tickets to the show would be refunded for all purchasers, but that’s when they realized it wouldn’t be so simple.

Bourgeois told CityNews she had purchased the tickets through her bank account, and Van Luven had paid her back. But, since the tickets had been purchased, Bourgeois had switched banks and closed the account.

“I didn’t foresee this happening, didn’t foresee this cancellation and not being able to get my money back.”

The ticketing company told the mother and daughter all refunds had to go back to the original form of payment without any exceptions.

“She was in talks with Ticketmaster, and Ticketmaster said, unless the original payment for the form is available, that she wouldn’t be getting your money back,” said Bourgeois.

“I begged and pleaded. I said, ‘Look, I have a new bank account. Can I attach it? I can send you my ID. I can show you everything, proof that it is still me.’ And they basically said ‘No, there’s nothing we can do,'” explained Bourgeois.

Bourgeois tried to contact the bank but was left with another dead end. “I called my bank. I explained to them the situation. And the man at the bank said basically once you’ve closed your account, it’s closed. ‘There’s nothing we can do about that.'”

She adds she has offered everything possible to try and verify her identity to Ticketmaster to try and get the money back, but they are “not being cooperative.”

“We feel like they’re calling us liars, that we aren’t who we say we are,” said Bourgeois. “I’ve offered them everything I possibly can as far as ID. I can email them anything they need, proof of my address with my name attached to it.”

“Why should I have to go through jump through hoops to get the refund that is owed back to us? It’s not our fault that the concert was cancelled, so they should be held accountable to refund this money, no matter what form,” shared Bourgeois.

“It’s not like it’s a normal ticket. We could eat that if it was $60, but it’s a big ticket.”

Shortly after CityNews spoke to Bourgeois and requested comment from Ticketmaster, Bourgeois said she received correspondence from Ticketmaster saying if the refund bounces back, they will send her a cheque. While it’s the news she hoped for, the experience was still unpleasant.

“We are people who like concerts. We like to get out there. We just went to the Backstreet Boys a couple of weeks ago, at the time of our lives. And it gives us that sour taste in our mouth.”

Following the airing of this story, Ticketmaster agreed to refund Van Luven her ticket in full.

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