A power outage swept New York City this weekend, leaving streets and metro stations without lights, individuals trapped in elevators, and homes without electricity. Certainly less endangering but still pretty shitty, the blackout also meant that many events in the city were canceled, and StubHub shelled out $US500,000 ($710,250) in refunds.
The online ticket marketplace paid back customers who had purchased tickets for events that had been canceled due to the power outage, according to the Hollywood Reporter, which amounted to 27 different events. Jennifer Lopez’s concert at Madison Square Garden and Dave Chappelle’s show at a Broadway theatre were rescheduled due to the power outage, according to a StubHub press release, and customers who bought tickets through StubHub will receive valid tickets for the new event dates. Aside from those two events, the remaining 25 were simply canceled, and those customers received a full refund. More than 1500 customers were impacted.
It’s still unclear what the specific cause of the blackout was, with officials speculating that it might have been a transformer fire, though there hasn’t been any hard confirmation. “Our equipment failed at one of our sub-stations, but we don’t know why,” Sidney Alvarez, a Con Ed spokesperson, told Curbed on Tuesday.
And according to Con Edison, this past weekend’s power outage was just among the first of a string of blackouts customers can expect as it heats up this summer.
While not all companies might show some mercy to customers screwed over or imperilled by a temporary loss of electricity, StubHub’s policy promises full refunds for canceled events, and Saturday’s half a million dollars indicates that a violently hot summer might prove unfavourable for the company’s wallet.