Pittsburgh Pirates

I am the Senior Vice President of Business Affairs & General Counsel for the Pittsburgh Pirates (the “Club”) and I am in receipt of your letter dated February 27, 2015, which references a previous letter. I should note that we did not receive this letter until March 4, 2015. The letter includes...

information related to Mr. [redacted] [redacted], who claims that he is owed a $1,600 refund. We have reviewed the facts related to Mr. [redacted] and his purchases.Mr. [redacted] was a season ticket holder in 2034 and again is a season ticket holder in 2015. For the 2014 postseason, Mr. [redacted] purchased a 2014 Post-Season “Strip” at a cost of $1,705. A “Strip” is a sequence of tickets for a particular seat or seats (usually the same seat or seats as the purchaser’s regular season tickets) that assumes that the Pirates will play all possible postseason home games. This is necessary because, at the time of sale, there is no certainty about the number of home games that the Pirates will play in the postseason. Purchasers are told that the Strips must be paid for up front, and then if any or all of the games are not played, they will have the option to receive a refund of those amounts, or they can roll those amounts into the costs of their 2015 season tickets. Mr. [redacted] received electronic communications from the Pirates to this effect before he purchased his postseason Strip. Because the Pirates were eliminated after the Wild Card game, $1,581 of the $1,705 amount was eligible to be refunded to Mr. [redacted]. In order to receive that refund, season ticket holders needed to inform the Pirates of such a request by December 1, 2014. If no refund request was received, season ticket holders were told that those monies would be rolled over to the appropriate 2015 season ticket costs. Mr. [redacted] did not request a refund from the Pirates in 2014. The Pirates attempted to contact Mr. [redacted] on November 5, 2014, November 19, 2014 and December 2, 2014, but despite leaving messages on each of those occasions did not receive any instruction or refund request from Mr. [redacted]. As a result, the $1,581 has been rolled over and applied toward the costs of his 2015 full season tickets, the total cost of which is $3,894. Taking out the $1,581 applied to that account as a result of the postseason games not played, Mr. [redacted] has an outstanding balance on his account of $2,313. Separately, we should note that in addition to his postseason “Strip”, Mr. [redacted] purchased $424 worth of 2014 postseason tickets for individual games. $156 of that amount was for tickets the Wild Card game, which was played. The remaining $268 dollars was for future games that were not played. Unlike with postseason strips, sales for individual postseason games are automatically refunded to the purchaser, and Mr. [redacted] did receive a refund of $268 on October 16, 2014. We trust that this clears up any misunderstanding between Mr. [redacted] and the Club, and we look forward to an exciting 2015 season.

Review: I purchased memberships for both my children in the Bucaroos Kids Club for $25 each, total of over $50 with taxes and everything. I contacted them multiple times because we did not receive any of our ticket vouchers or anything else promised to us with our "Gold Membership". They apparently completely ignored my attempts to contact them and we are going on months now with no word or anything in the mail.Desired Settlement: We would AT LEAST like a refund since we did not receive anything that we were supposed to.

Business

Response:

I am the Vice President & General Counsel of the Pittsburgh Pirates (the “Pirates”) and I am in receipt of your letter of September 8, 2014, referencing Complaint ID [redacted] from [redacted]. We looked into the circumstances related to Mr. [redacted]’s inquiry in response to his Complaint. Our records indicate that on July 17, 2014, two weeks after Mr. [redacted] purchased the Gold Membership in the Buccaroo Kids Club, the Pirates sent to Mr. [redacted] the items necessary to fulfill that Gold Membership. We further have no record of his contacting the Pirates to let us know that he did not receive these items.

Nonetheless, we now understand that, for whatever reason, he did not receive these items. We have reached out to Mr. [redacted] directly to offer him a variety of options, including the choice to have his money refunded. We trust that these options will resolve the issue, and we look forward to working with Mr. [redacted] directly.

Review: Hi I was a season ticket holder for the Pittsburgh Pirates Baseball team. Last October I purchased the Full postseason package . I also purchased the individual game ones also. I was under the assumption that I would be refunded the amount if the Pirates didn't make it to the games I purchased. Upon just reciveing a letter in the mail this past week, I called and asked to be refunded my overpayment. When I called [redacted] at 4[redacted] he advised me that I should of read the small print when I bought the tickets beucase it says I am to late. I then asked for his supervisor [redacted] . He gave me his number at ###-###-#### I called this number and left a detailed message but have not heard anything back. I feel this is a total ripoff and abuse of small printDesired Settlement: I would like a refund of the full amount left on my account... Over $1500...

Business

Response:

I am the Senior Vice President of Business Affairs & General Counsel for the Pittsburgh Pirates (the “Club”) and I am in receipt of your letter dated February 27, 2015, which references a previous letter. I should note that we did not receive this letter until March 4, 2015. The letter includes information related to Mr. [redacted], who claims that he is owed a $1,600 refund. We have reviewed the facts related to Mr. [redacted] and his purchases.Mr. [redacted] was a season ticket holder in 2034 and again is a season ticket holder in 2015. For the 2014 postseason, Mr. [redacted] purchased a 2014 Post-Season “Strip” at a cost of $1,705. A “Strip” is a sequence of tickets for a particular seat or seats (usually the same seat or seats as the purchaser’s regular season tickets) that assumes that the Pirates will play all possible postseason home games. This is necessary because, at the time of sale, there is no certainty about the number of home games that the Pirates will play in the postseason. Purchasers are told that the Strips must be paid for up front, and then if any or all of the games are not played, they will have the option to receive a refund of those amounts, or they can roll those amounts into the costs of their 2015 season tickets. Mr. [redacted] received electronic communications from the Pirates to this effect before he purchased his postseason Strip. Because the Pirates were eliminated after the Wild Card game, $1,581 of the $1,705 amount was eligible to be refunded to Mr. [redacted]. In order to receive that refund, season ticket holders needed to inform the Pirates of such a request by December 1, 2014. If no refund request was received, season ticket holders were told that those monies would be rolled over to the appropriate 2015 season ticket costs. Mr. [redacted] did not request a refund from the Pirates in 2014. The Pirates attempted to contact Mr. [redacted] on November 5, 2014, November 19, 2014 and December 2, 2014, but despite leaving messages on each of those occasions did not receive any instruction or refund request from Mr. [redacted]. As a result, the $1,581 has been rolled over and applied toward the costs of his 2015 full season tickets, the total cost of which is $3,894. Taking out the $1,581 applied to that account as a result of the postseason games not played, Mr. [redacted] has an outstanding balance on his account of $2,313. Separately, we should note that in addition to his postseason “Strip”, Mr. [redacted] purchased $424 worth of 2014 postseason tickets for individual games. $156 of that amount was for tickets the Wild Card game, which was played. The remaining $268 dollars was for future games that were not played. Unlike with postseason strips, sales for individual postseason games are automatically refunded to the purchaser, and Mr. [redacted] did receive a refund of $268 on October 16, 2014. We trust that this clears up any misunderstanding between Mr. [redacted] and the Club, and we look forward to an exciting 2015 season.

Review: I purchased 5 tickets April 28,2014 for $113. I noticed on April 29th that I was double charged. I contacted the person who was in charge of the promotion [redacted]. She did not respond right away and the extra charge of $113 posted to my account May 2. My husband and I have called and emailed her various times about this issue and were told by her that we were getting the money back or that she was looking into it.Desired Settlement: I would like my $113 refunded and I believe they owe us something(free item or discount) for our trouble. At this time this really created a financial hardship.

Business

Response:

My name is [redacted] and I am the Vice President & General Counsel of the Pittsburgh Pirates. I write in response to your letter of May 19, 2014 regarding complaint ID [redacted]. We have reviewed the information submitted by Ms. [redacted] and have determined that as of May 21, 2014, the additional charges on Ms. [redacted]’s credit card have been refunded. The Pirates regret the length of time necessary to effectuate this resolution but maintain that it was always the intention of the Pirates to reverse the additional charges. We believe this resolves the matter, but as a gesture of good faith, the Pirates will reach out to Ms. [redacted] and invite her back to a game at PNC Park at no cost to her.

Review: I have been trying for weeks to work with my contact, (name available but removed from the public posting) to get an overcharge issue resolved, but all communication has stopped. I have sent emails and left a voicemail with no response. The email address on the Revdex.com listing does not work.I threw out the first pitch on April 24th of this year as part of a charity auction benefiting the [redacted]. My original agreement, and another email confirmed closer to the date, stated that extra tickets would be $16 each. I ordered 14 extra tickets for my friends, and was instead charged $30 apiece. The original email is pasted below: "Your prize will include four (4) complimentary tickets, which I will have with me when you arrive. If you need to purchase additional tickets, you may do so through me and the tickets will all be seated together (these tickets cost $16.00 a piece)"Desired Settlement: My original agreement, and another email confirmed closer to the date, stated that extra tickets would be $16 each. I ordered 14 extra tickets for my friends, and was instead charged $30 apiece. "Your prize will include four (4) complimentary tickets, which I will have with me when you arrive. If you need to purchase additional tickets, you may do so through me and the tickets will all be seated together (these tickets cost $16.00 a piece)"I should receive a credit of $196 to my credit card.

Business

Response:

My name is[redacted] and I am the Vice President & General Counsel of the Pittsburgh Pirates. I write in response to your letter of May 13, 2014 regarding complaint ID [redacted]. Upon receiving the Complaint, we immediately looked into the matter and took action by processing a refund of $196.00 to Ms. [redacted]’s credit card. This was an unintentional oversight, and the Pirates appreciate Ms. [redacted]’s understanding in this matter.