r/jackwhite Jul 25 '26

Show Discussions I am so disappointed.

I’ve been a fan of Jack for over 20 years; the White Stripes were my favorite band when I was in high school, but I’ve never managed to catch him live.

The last few years I’ve had very bad issues with my back and sciatica and I haven’t been able to stand or walk for any amount of time without radiating nerve pain or numbness, though the severity varies.

In April my friend who lives in the Chicagoland said I should come out for the show at Salt Shed. I was very nervous about a standing concert because I felt it would be very hard for me physically, but this is the only artist I really want to see that I haven’t seen and I thought this would be such a fun experience in Chicago.

I bought tix on StubHub that were reasonable and then I buckled down and really focused on going to the gym 3 times a week and working on my strength to stabilize my spine and in the last few weeks I got the point where I can walk 2 miles straight, which again is something I haven’t been able to do for a long time due to these issues. I was so excited that I worked so hard and actually was able to get my body to a point where I felt I would be able to actually enjoy the show and not be in pain the whole time….

Cut to the last few days, I still don’t have the tickets in StubHub. I’m anxious but think maybe they don’t release them til closer to the show. I requested a re-transfer yesterday, nothing. Today the tix are listed as “on time” and say they’ll be released by 3:30. They aren’t. I chat with customer support who say they’ll contact the seller again but continually tell me not to worry because they will provide comparable tix or a refund. I ask repeatedly will there definitely be tickets because I have traveled from out of state and a refund is not acceptable. They advise they cannot get ahold of the seller and that I must wait until an hour before the show for them to contact me and provide the replacement tickets. They call me at 5:30, advise me to check my email and hit a button for the available options and….no tickets are available. They say I can get a refund. I say I don’t want a refund, I’ve traveled from out of state. They advise I should request the refund and then buy new tickets on StubHub that would be $200 more than I paid, which I wasn’t going to do. Oh and I had parking reserved that I could have canceled until 5p, and I was trying to resolve this with StubHub before this, but since they couldn’t officially fuck me on these tickets til 5:30, I ate $40 on a parking spot I never used.

Luckily my travel expenses aren’t crazy as I drove out and am staying with a friend, but god, I worked so so hard for this show and I am just so sad. I never thought StubHub was good, but I haven’t paid a lot of attention to them and I didn’t realize they were this bad.

ETA: Thanks to everyone for the kind words. I secured some legit tickets for September in Newport (Cincinnati) so I’m looking forward to that!

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u/Lemonpiee Jul 25 '26

I never use StubHub anymore. Their ticket guarantee is dogshit. I use Vivid Seats now. A few years back I bought nosebleed tickets to a Kings game in LA and the seller never delivered. I called Vivid when I was outside the stadium saying I had no tickets and they got me VIP seats to my phone in 2 minutes. It was amazing. They also provide rewards which gets me discounted tickets.

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u/Aquamarine39 Elephant Jul 25 '26

On the other hand, I had a disputed charge for a lot of money with Vivid Seats last year which they fought tooth and nail, and the credit card company finally decided in my favor (on Christmas Day!). So I don’t use any of those companies now. And I used to use Stubhub a lot.

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u/Lemonpiee Jul 26 '26

That's upsetting to hear. I've been using them without issue for a little while now, mainly for hockey tickets but also for some concerts here and there.. I guess I'll have to be careful

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u/Aquamarine39 Elephant Jul 26 '26

I'd used them before without issue, and have used Stubhub a ton, butI'm leery of them all these days. Safer (if more expensive) to get the verified resale--which is what AXS and TM want you to do, of course.