Photo credit: Rika Ichinose
SeatGeek is canceling orders placed with a discount code offering $500 off tickets after the code was leaked online.
On May 12, someone shared the $500 discount code on social media, letting people know that the codes “MLB1” and “MLB2” resulted in big discounts at checkout. Now SeatGeek states that it is in the process of canceling all orders placed during the one-hour window that these codes were active.
“On Friday night, some fans made a purchase on our site using an ineligible promotional code that was mistakenly distributed without authorization,” said Cameron Papp, a SeatGeek representative. “Tickets purchased through these purchases are void and we are working to resolve any situation accordingly.”
In situations where SeatGeek is the primary seller or an authorized reseller, canceling ticket sales should be a fairly simple process. But in situations where the seller has already transferred tickets to the buyer, SeatGeek cannot cancel a transaction that has already taken place.
Many at the weekend Redditors I used deal threads to brag about getting great deals on festival tickets. But the tears started the next day when customers realized that SeatGeek had started the refund process for their orders.
“I honestly have no idea what SeatGeek is doing, but I highly doubt they’re going to settle for a multi-million dollar loss,” one person said on Twitter. Another person answers them adds, “Just got off the phone with customer service; They told me they would cancel every single purchase that used MLB1 or MLB2. Absolutely brutal.”
At this time, it’s unclear how many orders were placed with the $500 discount or how many orders SeatGeek had to cancel. For the short time it was available, the code worked on all tickets sold through the SeatGeek platform, spreading the damage across the music industry, sports, theater and more.