Orioles and Nationals Refusing to Refund Service Fees for Nonexistent Playoff Games

by Zach Stoloff on Thu, Oct 18, 2012 at 8:54PM

If you happened to buy League Championship Series tickets for the Orioles or Nationals, then clearly you were entitled to a refund when both of those teams failed to advance past the first round of the playoffs. However, apparently a "refund" doesn't necessarily entitle you to getting all your money back.

Both teams are refusing to refund the $6 service fee that was attached to each ticket, meaning that, according to Deadspin's math, they're each pocketing about $500,000 of their fans' money — whether that goes to the team or contracted ticketing services, we're not entirely sure.

As the Deadspin article points out, the legality of the practice is very much in question, as the New York State Attorney General got involved when the Yankees tried to pull the same shenanigans back in 2002. Moreover, the Orioles initially claimed that this practice was forced upon them by Major League Baseball. However, that turned out to be an unequivocal lie on the part of the team, which has since admitted that it was indeed their decision.

Although fans stung by this bizarre policy are sure to be mad, quite frankly it isn't the first time that Washington D.C. has been responsible for taking undue free money.