Many fans living outside of Japan who purchased Tokyo Olympics tickets through brokers, so-called authorized ticket resellers, will not receive full refunds. And they may have to wait a long time to get a refund.
The issue of refunds came into play a week ago when local organizers and the Japanese government decided to ban most fans from abroad due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
There are a dozen authorized ticket resellers. They are usually appointed by the National Olympic Committees and are allowed to charge a 20% management fee on tickets. For $ 2,000 worth of tickets, for example, the reseller can charge $ 2,400.
CoSport, the ATR for the United States and other territories and countries, said in a letter over the weekend to ticket holders that it would not refund the handling fee. He said he would refund the face value of the ticket and shipping fees.
The letter, signed by CoSport President Robert F. Long, read: “CoSport and other Olympic entities encouraged the Japanese government and organizers to reimburse all costs incurred by international spectators.”
The Tokyo organizers have said they would refund the face value of the tickets, but are not responsible for any other additional charges. They have said that they will not cover additional fees imposed by ATRs or hotel or flight cancellation fees.
New Jersey-based CoSport added that it would not receive refunds from organizers until “the third quarter of this year” and would not be able to start paying refunds until then.
It has also asked buyers to request refunds almost immediately. It set a deadline of April 9 to present the required document.
“Failure to meet this deadline will jeopardize your refund,” the letter said. “We know this is a quick response, however it is based on the deadline that we must meet to request a refund on your behalf.”
Additionally, by requesting a refund, customers can effectively release CoSport from any additional claims. This would prevent ticket holders from taking further legal action.
Brandon Nagata, who lives in Honolulu, said he has spent nearly $ 4,000 on tickets. He said he applied for some refunds from CoSport more than six months ago. He said he received $ 209 but is still waiting for $ 420 back.
He said he kept about $ 3,000 in tickets, hoping to attend.
“I don’t like that they are forcing us to fill out a form with information that they already have,” he wrote in an email to the Associated Press. “Another thing is to delay the refund or disqualify customers from receiving the refunds.”
Records show that CoSport, which also operates as JET Set Sports, received a loan of $ 784,900 just under a year ago in a coronavirus-related loan program run by the Small Business Administration.
The future of CoSport and all resellers is in doubt with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba taking over ticket sales starting with the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
Andrew Pham, who lives in Spokane, Washington, spent about $ 2,500 on tickets and blamed the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee for repeatedly naming CoSport as the ticket agent. He questioned the level of customer service provided.
Cartan Tours, which is the reseller for most of the Caribbean and Latin America, did not indicate on its website how or when it would handle refunds. He said it would work “to get all eligible and applicable rebates.”
Team GB, which manages sales in Great Britain, indicated on its website that it would give full refunds.
“If you have purchased a travel package (s) through us, they are protected by our COVID-19 guarantee, which offers a 100% refund.”
Tokyo organizers said about 600,000 Olympic tickets have been sold to people outside of Japan. Japanese residents bought 4.45 million. Organizers said several years ago that there would be a total of 7.8 million tickets to the Olympics.
Excluding fans from abroad will be a huge blow to the budget of the local operating committee. He had expected to receive $ 800 million from ticket sales and any shortfall will have to be covered by Japanese government entities.
The official cost of the Olympics is $ 15.4 billion. However, multiple government audits suggest it could be double that, and all but $ 6.7 billion is public money. A study from the University of Oxford says that these are the most expensive Olympics on record.
The organizers of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics have not provided information about the tickets, which will start in just 10 months, on February 4, 2022. Overseas fans may also be excluded from these games.
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She is a freelance blogger, writer, and speaker, and writes for various entertainment magazines.