Concert or event cancelled or postponed? How to get your ticket refund

When a concert, match, festival or show is cancelled, you are usually owed a refund from whoever sold you the ticket. Ask in writing for the full amount, fees included, to your card, with a date 14 days away. Postponed events are where people lose money: many sellers refund only if you ask inside a window after the announcement, so find it today. A credit or voucher is not a refund, and you can usually say no.

What happened decides what you get

• Cancelled, no new date. The strongest case. Most official sellers promise face value back; many refund booking fees, some keep a per-order fee.
• Postponed or rescheduled. Tickets usually stay valid. Many sellers refund anyone who cannot go, often only on request inside a set window.
• Moved or changed. A different venue, city or a big change of start time is often a material change. A single-artist show losing its headliner is strong; one act leaving a festival is weaker; support acts, weak.
• Fake, invalid or never arrived. The official seller should replace or refund. A resale platform answers under its buyer guarantee.

In the UK and the EU, consumer law supports a refund when a paid service is not provided at all, which helps you argue the fees back too. That is arguable, not certain, so read the seller's terms as well.

Who owes you the refund

Where you bought	Who refunds	What to watch
Official seller	The seller, often on the organiser's instruction	"Waiting for the organiser" is not your problem: ask for a date
Venue box office	The venue	Its own refund policy
Resale platform	The platform, under its buyer guarantee	Guarantees usually cover cancellation, not postponement, and some need a report within a short window
A person, by social media	Hard to recover	Card or payment app protection if you have it; bank transfer: tell the bank at once

Postponed and you cannot go

Look for the refund window in the announcement email and on the seller's site. If there is one, ask inside it, in writing, and keep a screenshot. If no refund is offered and you cannot attend, write that you bought tickets for the original date, cannot attend the new one, and ask for the refund. Treat an event postponed again, or left with no new date for a long time, as close to cancelled.

For resale tickets to a postponed event, the platform guarantee often does not cover you. Ask anyway; the realistic fallback is relisting on the platform or the official resale exchange.

What to do, step by step

1. Screenshot the announcement. Posts get deleted. Note the date and time.
2. Find the refund route and any deadline. If there is an official refund form, use it first.
3. Write one message. Order number, event, original date, what happened, the amount with face value and fees shown, and a date 14 days away.
4. Refuse a credit. Unless you want one.
5. Chase once. Quote the case number and give seven more days.
6. Ask your card issuer now. Card disputes have time limits, often from the transaction or event date.
7. Use the card route. Section 75, a chargeback, a US credit card dispute or a payment app claim.

The message to send

Subject: Refund request: order 5521-80733, arena concert, 28 November 2026

Dear Customer Service,

On 12 June 2026 I bought two tickets for the concert at the Leeds arena on 28 November 2026, order 5521-80733, and paid £147.25 by credit card (face value 2 x £65.00, service fees 2 x £7.25, order fee £2.75).

The concert was cancelled on 2 November 2026. You have offered an account credit of £130.00. I do not accept a credit.

As the event was cancelled and no part of the service was provided, please refund the full £147.25 to my card by 20 November 2026.

Kind regards, Priya Shah

Swap in your own details. Write to whoever sold the ticket, and to the organiser too if the seller blames them.

Card routes and where to complain

• UK credit card: Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act makes the issuer jointly liable when a single item costs over £100 and up to £30,000. Several cheaper tickets may not meet it per item, so ask the issuer. A chargeback has no minimum.
• US credit card: the Fair Credit Billing Act covers services not provided. Check the time limits with the issuer.
• PayPal and payment apps: check the buyer protection and its time limit.
• UK: many ticket agents belong to STAR, the Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers, which runs a complaints and ADR process. Then Trading Standards through the Citizens Advice consumer helpline, and small claims.
• EU: the national consumer authority or ADR body; the European Consumer Centre in your country if the seller is in another EU country; small claims.
• US: the state attorney general's consumer protection office and the FTC; some states have their own ticket laws.

Ticket protection bought at checkout is usually insurance for when you cannot attend for a listed reason. A cancelled event is the seller's to refund, not your insurer's.

The short version

Cancelled: ask the seller for the full amount, fees included, to your card, by a date. Postponed and you cannot go: find the refund window and ask inside it. Say no to credits unless you want one. Ask your card issuer about its time limit now, and use the card route if the seller stalls.

Questions

Do I have to accept a credit or voucher?

Usually not, unless the terms you agreed say so, and even then ask for cash first. A credit is cheaper for the seller and it may expire.

The event is postponed and I cannot go. Can I get my money back?

Many sellers refund anyone who cannot attend the new date, often only if you ask inside a set window after the announcement. With no refund offered, you can argue the new date is a material change to what you bought, which is reasonable but not certain.

Do I get the booking fees back?

Check the seller's own policy first; many refund booking fees on a cancelled event and some keep a per-order fee. When nothing was provided at all, ask for the full amount.

I bought on a resale site. Who refunds me?

The resale platform, under its own buyer guarantee, which usually covers cancellation but not postponement. The original seller rarely refunds resold tickets.

General information, not legal advice. Rules change and depend on where you live: check the official source before you rely on a date or an amount.

Sources

• Consumer Credit Act 1974, section 75 (legislation.gov.uk, checked November 2026)
• Fair Credit Billing Act, 15 U.S.C. 1666 (Cornell LII, checked November 2026)
• STAR, Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers: complaints (checked November 2026)
• European Consumer Centres Network (European Commission, checked November 2026)