Troubleshooters help New Jersey couple after concert tickets disappear from mobile app

MULLICA HILL, N.J. (WPVI) — Getting tickets to one of the most popular concerts in town can be difficult and expensive.

So imagine the surprise of one Gloucester County, New Jersey couple when they bought the seats they wanted only to be turned away on the spot.

The couple discovered that the tickets in their app had disappeared and their paper tickets were not being accepted.

Cathy Carchidi of Mullica Hill paid $910 for her and her husband to see Pearl Jam at the Wells Fargo Center in South Philadelphia.

“I don’t know what happened on the day of the concert. I have paper tickets. I have a screenshot of my tickets, but there are no digital tickets in the Vivid Seats app. They just don’t exist,” Karchidi said.

Carchidi said she took screenshots and paper copies of the tickets to the ticket office, but employees said they couldn’t help her.

“We’re not going to print anything for you and you can’t get in, and I suggest you call Vivid Seats,” she recalled them telling her.

Carchidi called Vivid Seats, but says that didn’t help either. She said her husband, who is a huge Pearl Jam fan and had never seen them live, was devastated.

“I mean, it was just shut down,” Carchidi said. “I mean complete and total blackout and I was crying.”

The Carchidis left without watching the show, then went to the Troubleshooters when they couldn’t even get their money back.

“It’s just wonderful that your team reached out,” she said.

Vivid Seats told troubleshooters it did not know why the tickets were missing from the Carchidi app, but the tickets were not accepted at the Wells Fargo Center. “because the customer tried to use the printed screenshots of the tickets…(and) Tickets were sent with instructions… that the customer must use a mobile device to access the event…’.

Vivid Seats also has good news for Carchidis.

“I got a call from Vivid Seats right away and they said we’re giving you a full refund,” she said.

Vivid Seats told the troubleshooters “As long as the tickets were valid and delivered, we issued a refund.”

“It was absolutely incredible,” she said. “We’re thrilled, absolutely thrilled.”

Comcast Spectacor, which owns the Wells Fargo Center, confirmed that Carchidi’s tickets were valid, but that paper copies could not be scanned because the tickets were only available for mobile devices.

So, two important points: Be aware that many venues no longer accept paper tickets or paper QR codes.

Also keep in mind that Wells Fargo Center cannot reissue tickets from third-party vendors like Vivid or StubHub, but can help troubleshoot and reissue tickets purchased directly through Ticketmaster.