Lawsuit filed over Super Bowl tickets that never came

The Washington State Attorney General’s Office filed a consumer protection lawsuit today against SBTickets, which promised Super Bowl tickets that it never delivered. SBTickets notified its customers only hours before kickoff that it did not have any tickets. By that time fans had paid a substantial amount of money on airplane tickets and hotel stays. The organization said on its web site that its tickets were “100 percent guaranteed,” according to a press release from the Attorney General’s Office. The office received 24 complaints about SBTickets involving 60 Super Bowl tickets. The customers had paid between $1,875 and $3,500 per ticket. SBTickets was a short seller, meaning that it sold tickets that it did not have in hopes that the price of the tickets would fall and they could purchase them cheaply, according to the press release. Instead, ticket prices rose significantly higher. The lawsuit is asking for SBTickets to reimburse their customers for the tickets, travel and lodging, plus $2,000 in penalties for each violation. Customers of SBTickets or other ticket brokers that failed to deliver are encouraged to file a complaint by visiting www.atg.wa.gov and clicking on the “Consumer complaint” button or by calling (800) 551-4636 between 10 a.m. and 3 pm. Monday through Friday.