Ticketmaster Mexico won’t pay fines after screwing up Bad Bunny concert sales

After more than 2,000 fans who purchased tickets for Bad Bunny’s concert at Estadio Azteca in December were denied entrance, Ticketmaster Mexico has managed to avoid fines by providing full refunds and additional compensation to affected customers. The Federal Consumer Attorney’s office in Mexico has confirmed that Ticketmaster Mexico has repaid almost 18.2 million Mexican pesos, equivalent to approximately $990,000, to the affected customers. This includes compensations that amount to 17% of the money refunded. The compensations were 20% of the price paid by consumers for their tickets.

If Ticketmaster Mexico had not refunded and compensated its customers, the fines could have totaled up to 10% of the company’s earnings in 2021. During the two shows held by Bad Bunny, a high demand for tickets led to more than 4.5 million people searching for the only 120,000 available at Estadio Azteca. Consequently, many concertgoers were told that their tickets had been duplicated or “cloned” and were denied entry. Between 2,000 and 3,000 people were refused entry to the first concert, and approximately 110 were denied entrance to the second concert.

Ticketmaster Mexico stated that the unprecedented demand for tickets, coupled with a temporary interruption in the ticket reading system, caused confusion among access control personnel at the venue on December 9. Ticketmaster Mexico also confirmed that numerous fake tickets were purchased outside its official channels, which contributed to the problem.

Of the 2,155 refunded tickets, 1,086 are from customers who filed complaints with the Federal Consumer Attorney’s office. The remaining 1,069 requested and obtained refunds directly from Ticketmaster. The Federal Consumer Attorney’s office will continue to operate a special site to receive complaints related to the Bad Bunny concert ticket fiasco and guarantee consumers their money back.