White Sox Fan Trying To Get Refund For Opening Day Tickets

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A die hard White Sox fan turned to CBS 2 for help after paying $1,500 for opening day tickets after striking out to get a refund even though no on could attend the game.

The White Sox have given refunds to fans who got their tickets directly from the team, but Patrick Kelly bought his tickets from a broker and has not been able to get his money back.

"I've been a White Sox fan all my life," he said.

Kelly is so devoted he has been to dozens of White Sox home openers. He was set to go this year with his large family including children, grandchildren and in-laws.

"Well, this year, opening day was on March 26, which was my granddaughters birthday. So we're taking her daughter, her sister, her parents and the other set of grandparents," he said.

Kelly picked up an expensive tab for the eight tickets from the Vivid Seats ticket broker -- $1,500.

"Everyone was excited to go to the ball game," he said. "The White Sox are supposed to have a great team this year."

But the pandemic forced Major League Baseball to cancel the first four months of the season, including that Sox opener that had been set for March 26th. When the season finally started this summer the only fans in the stands were the cardboard kind.

Kelly assumed he'd get his money back, so he called Vivid Seats.

"I reached out to them about a refund. Their response was that there's no refunds, that the games can be rescheduled," he said.

But that game was clearly cancelled, never to be played. Kelly then contacted Discover Card. No luck there, either. The $1,500 charge would stay on the bill. Discover said Vivid Seats claimed the home opener was merely postponed.

"I am I'm to the point where I'm thinking I'm just canceling my Discover card if this doesn't get resolved in my favor," Kelly said. "It is a lot of money, especially since I'm retired now and, you know, we're living on a fixed income. It's tough."

A spokesman from Vivid Seats got back to CBS 2 this afternoon, saying "If a game was cancelled, we should have processed a refund."

He says he'll get back to us. A spokeswoman for Discover Card is looking into Kelly's claim as well.

UPDATE:

A spokesperson for Vivid Seats said Kelly's refund was delayed because he had disputed the charge in his credit card. They released the following statement:

"Vivid Seats was happy to refund Mr. Kelly, as we are to any customer whose event has been cancelled. At Vivid Seats we have refunded thousands of orders totaling tens of millions of dollars since the global pandemic shut down all live events in America. We have also provide an additional $5 million dollars in extra store credit to customers during this difficult time. As one of the few marketplaces still offering a full cash refund, Vivid Seats is communicating with each consumer once an event is canceled. Refunds are being paid to customers who have request a full refund for a canceled event."