2013 World Series: StubHub says Pittsburgh-area fan will attend

This $6 ticket bought on Stubhub caused a day long controversy which ended when the ticket group stuck to its initial word. Photo courtesy of Erik Jabs

Pittsburgh sports fan Erik Jabs bought a ticket to Game 1 of the 2013 World Series for $6, but found out later that it was a fake.

Jabs, 32 of Jefferson Hills, bought the ticket off of StubHub in a section where the seats were selling for $800 and initially offered a $50 credit in a call with the ticketing company.

“It felt like I had $800 turn into $50,” Jabs said in an exclusive interview.

After a day of back and forth, Jabs got his wish as StubHub helped him secure another ticket to Boston’s Fenway Park for Wednesday’s opening game between the Red Sox and Cardinals.

Jabs wanted to attend what is known as “The Fall Classic,” but was prepared to do so from home until he logged on to StubHub Monday afternoon.

What Jabs found was a ticket for $6. It felt too good to be true.

“At first I thought that to be the case, but then I realized that I probably literally only had a few seconds before someone else bought it,” Jabs said. “So I quickly bought it on my phone.”

Jabs, a Spanish teacher at Steel Valley High School, tweeted his good fortune. What followed was a media circus with Deadspin breaking the story and CNN, CBS Sports, Yahoo Sports and the Dan Patrick Show among those following suit.

As standard procedure when ordering tickets through StubHub, Jabs received a confirmation email with the link to print out his ticket and it appeared that was the end of the story. This was not the case though.

According to Jabs, Stubhub sent him an e-mail saying that his ticket was invalid and therefore cancelled. It was explained that because of the company’s guarantee he would be refunded his money. This confused Jabs who called the company.

The phone call lasted 41 minutes before Jabs was told by an advanced customer service specialist that all that could be done was a $50 account credit that would be valid for two years.

While other reports had stated Jabs was given a ticket to the game at the time, he had only received the account credit. All this occurred while a spokesperson for StubHub stated that Jabs would still receive a ticket.

Jabs’ fate appeared sealed until shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday when StubHub’s boss intervened and decided that his company’s FanProtect Guarantee meant that a “comparable replacement ticket” would be sent.

In the end, all parties are satisfied and Jabs will fly to Boston on Wednesday.

“A successful business believes the customer is always right,” Jabs said. “StubHub has followed that policy, so yes I’m happy.”