They moved my wheelchair-accessible seats at a Springsteen concert. Can I get a refund?

Julie Stupsker buys two wheelchair-accessible seats for a Bruce Springsteen concert. But the venue moves her seats and now, she can't see anything. Can she get a refund?

I paid $3,000 for two wheelchair-accessible seats at a Bruce Springsteen concert recently. They were shown as seats 2 and 4 in the front row, next to the general admission pit.

On the interactive seating map, the pit was behind the accessible seats and to the left of the accessible seats. The seats I bought were in the front row directly in front of the stage.

It was very important to me to have an unobstructed view because I couldn't stand during the show and I wanted a clear view.

When I arrived, no one knew where the seats were. I explained, but an usher said the seats did not exist. I was sent to seats behind the pit where I could not see the stage. Hundreds of people were standing in the pit between me and the stage.

I never would have bought tickets for the seats I ended up with. I wanted to see the show, but I could only hear it. I had no view of the stage or the performers from a seated position behind hundreds of standing people.

I want a full refund. How does this happen? And who is responsible for providing the seats that are sold? I felt cheated out of a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I did not enjoy the show. I was upset the entire time.

Julie Stupsker, Sausalito, Calif.

Wow, Ticketmaster really took a wrecking ball to your Springsteen concert experience. (Oh, and before I go on, a quick note: I will be using a lot of Springsteen song titles in this story. Why? Because when it comes to writing this column, I am the Boss. Plus, it's fun.)

You did everything you could to ensure you had an unobstructed view from your wheelchair-accessible seats. I think if you had called the venue, you would have gotten the same answer about the location of the seats. No question about it, Ticketmaster left you in the darkness on the edge of town.

You should be able to rely on the interactive map and the venue should deliver what it promises instead of expecting people with disabilities to fade away.

It turns out that the wheelchair-accessible seats were relocated "to ensure safety," according to a Ticketmaster representative. But Ticketmaster gave you reason to believe your seats would be where it originally said they'd be.

"The seats were not relocated to behind the pit," she added. "They were shifted to the side of their original location, between the barricades, where there was a comparable view of the stages."

But that's not the way you saw it. And I really think you could have pushed this issue in a brief, polite email to one of the Ticketmaster executives I list on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org. No surrender!

I contacted Ticketmaster on your behalf to tie up this loose end.

"As a one-time courtesy, our consumer support team has reached out to the fan and issued a refund, which should be processed within three to seven business days," a representative told me.

Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy (https://elliottadvocacy.org), a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at [email protected] or get help by contacting him at https://elliottadvocacy.org/help/

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