Send Ben: Texas A&M fan says Ticketmaster fumbles Gator Bowl refund

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Gail Martin is a longtime Texas A&M fan.

“I have lots of Texas A&M clothing, mugs, flags, you name it,“ she tells Action News Jax Ben Becker.

Martin’s son was a cadet at the school and she would dress up her late beloved sled dog Hawkeye in Aggies gear.

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The Atlantic Beach resident looked forward to watching her Aggies in Jacksonville at the Gator Bowl against Wake Forest on New Year’s Eve but then this Aggie received agonizing news.

Action News Jax first reported December 22 that Texas A&M pulled out of the Gator Bowl because of COVID-19 issues and season ending injuries – so the Aggies were out and another school was in

“I got a text message they would be replaced by another team, Rutgers from New Jersey,” Martin said. “I don’t even know that team.”

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Martin’s fiancé had bought her two tickets for Christmas, totaling $201.55 and even purchased ticket insurance for another $16.

Shortly after the game changed, the Gator Bowl announced its refund policy that said “all ticket buyers will be eligible for a refund upon request.”

However, on December 28, Martin received this response from Ticketmaster -- “as much as we want to refund it, we can’t due to the ticket insurance.”

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Martin then reached out to the insurance company, but Allianz also turned down her claim saying “unfortunately, Texas A&M not making it to the Gator Bowl is not included” among her benefits.

Becker looked through the policy, and sure enough, a match-up change isn’t covered, but what about Ticketmaster and the Gator Bowl’s promise?

“I couldn’t get through to a live human,” Martin said. “They only give you emails and push you to a series of prompts on phone and you never get any answers.”

Becker emailed the Gator Bowl to get Martin some answers -- remember the refund policy Becker mentioned? It specifically said, “We’ve authorized Ticketmaster to approve refunds.”

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Martin also filled out a form on the Gator Bowl’s website -- so what’s going on?

A Gator Bowl spokesperson sent Becker an email that read:

“Thank you for sharing this information. We will contact Ticketmaster to work on this issue as that is her primary point of purchase.”

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The Gator Bowl followed up a few days later and said:

“Ticketmaster has worked through this and refund for the tickets has been approved.”

Martin texted Becker when she got the news.

“That is the only good news I’ve gotten in a month!” said a happy Martin. “Thank you so much for your help!!”

If you are having trouble scoring a refund for the Gator Bowl, send an email to sendben@actionnewsjax.com.

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