Demand for personal banking info to get F1 ticket refunds prompts privacy concerns

Formula One fans who have waited more than a year to get a refund for their cancelled 2020 Canadian Grand Prix tickets are now being asked to fork over personal banking information to get their money back.

Michelle Savoy bought race tickets for her son as a Christmas present in 2019.

When the Montreal race was cancelled last year due to COVID-19, she asked for a refund from Gootickets.com, one of the many ticket resellers for the race. The company bills itself as an official ticket provider for sports events around the world, including Formula One and is based in Monaco.

At the beginning of June, Savoy got an email confirming refunds would finally be processed, but there was a hitch: the company said too much time had passed to reimburse the amount to her credit card.

Savoy was asked to fill out a form that requested her name, address, bank account number, international identification code and address of her bank as well as the intermediary bank that her bank uses to allow international transfers.

Once she provided all that information, the money would be transferred into her account within 45 days.

"Number one, a wire transfer from an international source carries fees with it," said Savoy, who was already being charged a 10 per cent service fee for the refund. "Number two, I thought it was a cyber attack. Who asks you to fill out all your banking information online?"

When Savoy realized the email from Gootickets.com was legitimate and this was the only way she was going to get her money back, she decided to give up on the idea of a refund. 

"They have my email, they have my name, they have my credit card information. Why is it that they can't send me a reimbursement through my credit card?" said Savoy, who lives in Toronto.

CBC asked Gootickets.com about its refund process, but the company did not respond to our emails.

Several ticket holders told CBC they also felt uneasy about sharing their banking information. One race fan described the amount of information Gootickets.com was asking for as "everything short of my DNA sample."

But some decided it was a necessary hassle.

Mississauga's David Briand is waiting for Gootickets.com to pay him back about $1,000 for his cancelled race tickets. He opened a new bank account that supports wire transfers. As soon as the money is in his account, he plans to close it.

"This whole experience has been a complete mess," said a frustrated Briand, who describes the refund process as fishy. He too couldn't understand why his credit card couldn't be refunded.

Ticket refunds delayed for months

When the Canadian Grand Prix was cancelled last year, customers were initially told it could take until the fall of 2020 to be reimbursed, due to the volume of requests.

But for many ticket holders, that timeline kept being pushed back.

CBC first reported on the long refund delay back in December after receiving emails from people who either purchased tickets through the race's promoter, the Octane Racing Group, or various ticket resellers.

At the time, Octane declined to explain what was causing the holdup or why resellers were telling customers that they couldn't be reimbursed until Octane refunded them first.

Then, at the end of April, Bell confirmed it had acquired the Octane Racing Group.

Following the change of ownership, any outstanding refunds were supposed to follow.

Sandrine Garneau-Le Bel, Octane's director of communications and marketing, said racing fans who purchased tickets directly from the promoter were reimbursed using the original payment method.

She was unable to tell CBC how many tickets were sold by Gootickets, but said all resellers were reimbursed. Resellers are responsible for issuing refunds to their ticket holders. If ticket holders have questions, they should be directed to their ticket reseller, she said in an email to CBC.

CBC has spoken to several other ticket holders who bought through other resellers and they were reimbursed using their credit card.

Buyer beware

Moshe Lander, a sports economist at Concordia University, said the overly complicated way Gootickets.com is processing refunds is not normal and could end up damaging its reputation.

"They're basically taking advantage of their own customers, which of course, is never good for a long-term business strategy," said Lander, suggesting the company may be using the money temporarily as an interest-free loan to fund its operations.

Next time there is a race, people may remember how they were treated and get their tickets elsewhere, he said.

This may teach people to be more careful about purchasing goods from companies outside Canada, said Sylvie De Bellefeuille, a lawyer for Option Consommateurs, a consumer advocacy group.

Although Quebec has a consumer protection act, international businesses may not recognize these laws.

"It may be more difficult to retrieve our money," said De Bellefeuille.

Savoy thought she'd bought her tickets from a credible source. She's annoyed and frustrated by the complicated refund process.

"I feel cheated," she said.

Formula One has not responded to emails from CBC.