Consumer complaint received 2024-05-08
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account — Transaction was not authorized
Company: UNITED SERVICES AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION (CO)

I was recently a victim of scalping from an unauthorized event ticketing company, and my bank, USAA, has failed me in trying to help me get my money back. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, tickets for a highly popular band had gone on sale. I and my partner were waiting for the tickets to go on sale. They were using the XXXX website to get the tickets, and when the time hit, they were kicked back immediately and not able to get tickets. I, on the other hand, had trouble finding the site and managed to find the site and get tickets XXXX minutes after the tickets went on sale. I thought that was odd, but just assumed I had gotten lucky. The tickets totaled over {$750.00}, which I, again, also thought was odd as the tickets were expected to be no more than {$100.00} per seat as it was an early sale. My partner needs accessible seating as they're XXXX, so we had expected the tickets to be a bit more expensive considering how close accessibility seats were, but XXXX XXXX was really out of the ordinary. I told my partner that I got the tickets and the price. They were really confused and suspicious after me telling them this and had me show the website I got them from. They took one look and immediately told me that it wasn't bought from the XXXX website, but from a scalping site called XXXX. 

XXXX is a scalping site where tickets are bought and resold at a significant markup from what they're originally worth. They rely on independent sellers to buy tickets and re-sell on their site and have very little to no regulatory processes to make sure all of the independent sellers are using ethical business practices to re-sell on their site. 

Re-sale sites exist because most ticket providers do not offer refunds unless insurance is bought, and even with insurance, it is still notoriously difficult, so many avoid insurance entirely and try to re-sell their tickets in the event that they can not make it. This has now become a lucrative business for scalpers who use bots to automatically acquire large quantities of tickets and re-sell them at exorbitant prices.

***The main part that I can not stress enough is you are NOT buying a ticket with them. You are buying a " promise '' that a ticket secured by a reseller will be sent to you. *** Because there is no regulatory process, you can either have a reseller that can give you the tickets immediately, or XXXX that sends you the tickets the day of the event. As of XX/XX/XXXX I do NOT have tickets in my possession. The event is XX/XX/XXXX. 

Tickets on sale is XXXX of the most notorious for their deceptive practices and often pay for sponsored slots on search engines and copy the search link that legitimate sellers use so it's on the top of search results and deceives people into thinking that they're going to XXXX, XXXX etc. but really, they're going to XXXX. They have even been known to copy the actual graphics of the XXXX website layout before they were threatened with legal action. 

This site has such a low rating with the XXXX, that they have been flagged as a potential scam site. in XXXX, the XXXX  launched an investigation into this company and has stated quote : " In XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX  investigated XXXX business practices. This investigation was prompted by a scam tracker reports and multiple complaints of customers alleging to never receiving refunds for cancelled concerts and alleging being unable to reach a representative of the company for resolution. '' There is no email directly tied to the company and XXXX  could not confirm the public contact. The XXXX  advises caution with marketplace interaction on the site seeing that there is no one to physically speak to regarding purchases on the site. '' I had tried for hours to get connected to a live representative to request information on their policies so I could submit it to my bank. They consistently circumvented my request both to speak to a person, and the information I needed to submit for evidence. I could not find someone to try and settle the matter with directly, because they absolutely refuse to allow customers to contact them. After seeing what their business model is, I can understand why they do not allow contact with customers.

There have been numerous claims filed against them, and have had legal prosecutions initiated against them, which have been headed by the Attorney General both in the states of New York and Virginia. in XXXX, they settled a {$4.00} XXXX dollar lawsuit for their deceptive refund practices. 

Around late XXXX, the band we were going to see was informed about the exponentially high degree of scalped and re-sold tickets. Their best course of action for them was to announce that they were going to cancel any tickets that were not bought on the XXXX site and return the availability to the site as they come across them. Those that did buy tickets off XXXX, regardless of whether it had genuine intentions, will not be given any warning, and will not be able to buy the extra tickets being released back onto XXXX. This made it even more complicated as I, not only could not contact XXXX to verify this news, but also could not contact the resellers directly.

**Again, as of XX/XX/XXXX, we did not receive our tickets from the reseller, nor can we contact them about the status of our purchase** I contacted my bank immediately notifying them of this transaction within an hour of realizing I had not bought the thing I paid for. This made my transaction unauthorized as I would not have bought from them knowing I was not actually receiving anything from them upon receipt. We had to find their process explanation by using the sitemap because they did not have a visible link that you could identify and go to. 

When the stop transaction had been put and didn't work, I had to put in a claim. Every single piece of evidence that I have just stated in this claim, was submitted to my bank in the " fact finding '' process. All of the time I had put into sending every single link, and every single screenshot, returned that It was not a fraudulent charge, and my claim was denied. The temporary credit they issued over XXXX months while they reviewed the claim was ripped from my account in the middle of a vacation. after XXXX  months of investigating, they had left me, and my partner out {$750.00} within minutes. We had to spend hundreds of dollars more to just go home early, because it would have actually been cheaper to do so than finish the trip. 

Additionally, my card was actually stolen and used to make contactless payments with different card readers, and then gave us " mix tapes for charity '' so it wasn't cut and dry theft. They grouped around me and my partner. My partner was XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX, and they stood in front of their XXXX  and used them as a break of sorts so they couldn't XXXX  away. The group stole their card too. I was able to get my card back, and my partner just got bold and started rolling over their feet, and we got away. I checked my account and around {$250.00} was transacted from my account. I reported this as soon as we got away from the group, and the claim was processed as denied because I got the card back in my possession and it wasn't stolen from me completely. If I got the card back, then the transactions were technically authorized as I got my card back. Amazing. It's literally not theft unless they decide it. It's like you have to behave as a perfect victim, otherwise it's easy to deny. 

I'm just honestly in shock that this has happened, and that my bank, that had been so accommodating to me as a customer for years, treated me, and my situation so poorly. This was an obviously unauthorized transaction. Unauthorized transactions don't just involve someone finding your information and buying whatever they want before you catch it, it can be businesses that toe the legal line and coerce you into buying their products, knowing well and good that the consumer would not continue if they were fully informed about how their businesses work. It can be people that spoof reputable numbers and convince you to send money to them by being aggressive and forceful. The internet and technology is rapidly progressing, scammers and scalpers have found out that their old tactics don't work, and they need to start getting creative to continue receiving profits. It's not just elderly people that can be scammed. You shouldn't feel stupid for getting scammed or initiating an unauthorized transaction. It happens. And you should feel safe enough to rely on your bank to recover the money taken, because we **literally have insurance on the money in our XXXX bank accounts** what is the point of having insurance on something if it takes an arm and a leg to actually get the benefits of insurance?

Instead of focusing on punishing the businesses that do these deceptive practices so consumers can spend even just a *tiny* bit safer, they decide to make their customers feel stupid for " letting '' this happen. As we all should know, not consenting to something doesn't turn it into consent just because it still happened.

I'm just disgusted with how this has gone both with the business itself and USAA 's response. instead of resolving the incident and actually looking at the evidence given I was given radio silence and dismissal when calling for an update because it was taking so long. Now, it's XXXX days before the event, I still do not have the thing I paid for, and I'm out nearly {$1000.00} for both what I lost in the transaction, and the money I needed to spend to stay above water when USAA took MORE from me. I don't know what else to say. This was just awful, and I saw it coming a mile away. I tried to report it immediately and was put on the backburner for months before I was back at square one with somehow less money than what I lost. I did all the " correct '' steps and my diligence did nothing. It's so demoralizing.