Stub Hub ticket mix-up leaves fans without concert tickets

BENICIA, Calif. (KGO) -- A couple's plans to see one of their favorite groups in concert hit a surprising sour note. The good vibes disappeared when the venue told the couple their tickets were no good.

They had been purchased from a well-known third party ticket vendor.

It happened to Bob Beardsley. 7 On Your Side caught up with him as he was asking his digital assistant to play one of his favorite tunes.

"Alexa, play 'Diamonds on the Soul of her Shoes,'" the Benicia man said.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo is best known for its collaboration with Paul Simon on the Grammy-winning Graceland album.

Julia Beardsley knew how much her husband enjoyed them.

"I just saw it on StubHub and thought, oooh, this would be a great Christmas gift for him," she said.

Bob had been looking forward to the concert for months.

He had seen Ladysmith Black Mambazo on their YouTube channel, but wanted to see them in person.

Before he left for the hour-plus ride to the concert, he called the Green Music Center at Sonoma State to make sure there were no surprises.

"If I'm going to go that far, I want to make sure every thing's OK," said Bob. "Is there a cancellation of the artist? Is there a cancellation of anything else? Sure enough, there was."

The concert was still on, but he was told the tickets were no good.

Bob said he was informed his names were not attached to the tickets.

"So I said, I don't understand. We bought these and they said, well, we're sorry. There's just no way we can seat you. Those are not good tickets."

He got on the phone to StubHub, which took a while to investigate.

By the time it determined the tickets were good, it was too late to make the drive to the concert.

"We paid for the tickets and we didn't get to go. We got nothing," said Julia.

Not quite.

The couple called 7 On Your Side and we called StubHub.

StubHub told us "In the rare instances where something goes wrong, every ticket is 100 percent guaranteed. While we provided the Beardsley's a refund, we regret that they did not get to attend the concert at Sonoma State as planned and hope they will give StubHub a second chance."

"You guys obviously have a real great reputation," said Bob, "and you support people even with small things like this and I really appreciate it very much."

Written and produced by Randall Yip

Click here for a look at more stories by Michael Finney and 7 On Your Side.