{"id":450079,"date":"2026-09-28T12:31:35","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T12:31:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/450079\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T12:31:35","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T12:31:35","slug":"the-receipts-woman-warns-of-ticket-scams-after-paying-for-free-tailgate-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/450079\/","title":{"rendered":"The Receipts: Woman warns of ticket scams after paying for free tailgate"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 As Austin heads into a packed season of Longhorn football<\/a>, Austin City Limits, Formula One<\/a> and major concerts, ticket scams and misleading listings are becoming an increasingly costly problem for fans trying to get through the gate.<\/p>\n

Jamie McClinton, a TickPick customer from Texas, said she paid $161.30 for what she believed were two tickets to a Raiders tailgate, only to learn when she arrived that the event was open to the public and did not require a ticket.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got Texas sideways. I was mad,\u201d McClinton said.<\/p>\n

McClinton said she asked a police officer where she needed to go to have her ticket scanned, “and he just laughed,\u201d she said. \u201cHe said, there\u2019s no … it\u2019s open to the public. There\u2019s no admission.\u201d<\/p>\n

McClinton said she showed the officer what she believed was her ticket, but he told her it was not valid. \u201cAnd I said, no, I have a ticket, see right here. And he said, yeah, I\u2019ve seen that before. It\u2019s not a thing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

After realizing the tailgate was free, McClinton said she contacted TickPick to request a refund.<\/p>\n

\u201cI called Tick Pick right then and there. And I got put on hold for 24 minutes, which took time away from the tailgating time and then they hung up on me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Receipts showed the listing, the charge and information indicating the tailgate was free. TickPick was asked what it does to ensure listings on its platform are accurate and why a free event was listed for sale, but there was no response.<\/p>\n

The Better Business Bureau says consumers should slow down before hitting purchase.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate, but it happens more commonly than you think,\u201d said Heather Massey of the BBB Heart of Texas.<\/p>\n

THE RECEIPTS | Austin man says Airbnb host canceled stay days before trip<\/a><\/p>\n

In Austin, University of Texas athletics leaders said they see counterfeit tickets nearly every game. Some are completely fake, they said, while others are screenshots of one real ticket sold to multiple people, meaning only one buyer can get through the scanner.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s not able to be put in your wallet, it\u2019s not able to be tapped at the ticket scanners,\u201d said Drew Martin, Texas Athletics deputy athletics director for external affairs.<\/p>\n

With Longhorn games selling out, UT said many fans turn to third-party websites or people selling tickets on social media. Martin said the school regularly reminds fans that SeatGeek is the only platform where UT can guarantee assistance if a ticket turns out to be counterfeit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe message constantly to our ticket holders and to our public that is looking for tickets that SeatGeek is the only platform where we can guarantee that we can help you if in fact you do have a counterfeit ticket,\u201d Martin said.<\/p>\n

UT said if it can verify a SeatGeek ticket is counterfeit, the buyer can be refunded. The school also said that sometimes, if tickets become available, it may be able to get that fan into the game.<\/p>\n

Martin urged buyers to verify what they are purchasing before paying.<\/p>\n

\u201cMake sure to validate that ticket, make the phone calls, validate that tailgate. Is it free? Is it not free? Who\u2019s putting on the tailgate?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The BBB said Texans reported losing more than $3 million to online purchase scams<\/a> in 2025, more than double the losses reported the year before. Massey said many people do not realize they have been scammed until they arrive.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of times they don\u2019t find out until they\u2019ve showed up at the venue,\u201d Massey said.<\/p>\n

Before buying, the BBB recommends starting with the event or venue\u2019s official website. If tickets are sold out, Massey said consumers should stick with preferred sellers.<\/p>\n

\u201cUse those preferred sellers because they will offer generally money-back guarantees,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The BBB also recommends looking for \u201cverified resale\u201d tickets, checking for a lock icon on the website and reading the refund policy before paying.<\/p>\n

McClinton said buyers should document everything and make sure they understand exactly what they are purchasing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an experience, I guess, just not one that I should have had to pay for,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Consumer advocates said the best time to check a ticket is before paying, including reviewing what the seller promises, whether a refund is offered and whether the ticket is guaranteed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 As Austin heads into a packed season of Longhorn football, Austin City Limits, Formula One…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":450080,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-450079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=450079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/450080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=450079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=450079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=450079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}