Who should pay for these tickets?

[Ppejfhfhrhhfhf]

I was going to an event with Sarah and Philippa. I bought the tickets and they were meant to transfer the money.

Sarah then said her DH had arranged to see friends and so she could no longer come. Annoying, but okay. I asked Philippa if it would be okay if we offered the ticket to another mutual friend, Cheryl. Philippa said yes, but that she had seriously overspent so could no longer afford to come and so did I want to find someone else take her ticket too.

I was annoyed, and said I couldn’t think of anyone to take it but if she didn’t want to come just send the money and don’t come. She said she’d send it when she was paid. Meanwhile, Cheryl and I went for drinks with Jessica, mentioned there was a spare ticket, and Jessica said she’d like to come.

So Cheryl, Jessica and I went to the event. I have been paid for the tickets by no one.

Who should pay?

YABU - Cheryl and Jessica
YANBU - Sarah and Philippa

But did they think the tickets were free? Or was there no mention of money?

No mention of money.

Although Phillippa clearly said she would pay, even after saying she couldn't come, so she still should pay.
" Hi P, hope you've been paid now, my bank details are.."

The original two probably assumed you were selling tickets on. I think that it what most people would do. You didn't really word it like you were selling them on but I can see it wasn't clear either way.

I think you'd have been better off saying is it OK if I give away your tickets for free so it was clear.

Then you have to pay , you cannot decide to give something away and still expect the others to pay .

I didn’t decide, I asked if it was okay if Cheryl and Jessica had the spare tickets. If I was selling tickets that belonged to me I wouldn’t have asked.

I said in a group chat ‘is it okay if Cheryl has the spare ticket to the event’.

That’s not at all clear, Susan could easily that you’ve found someone to buy it from you. That let her off the hook.

I get your annoyance with them, they’re clearly flakey. But I’m sorry, it does look like you made S&P think you’d found people who would buy them from you - whilst giving those people the impression they were free.

I said in a group chat ‘is it okay if Cheryl has the spare ticket to the event’.

That’s not at all clear, Susan could easily interpret as that you’ve found someone to buy it from you. I’d assume that. That let her off the hook.

I get your annoyance with them, they’re clearly flakey. But I’m sorry, it does look like you made S&P think you’d found people who would buy them from you - whilst giving those people the impression they were free.

And now I think Sarah should pay too. It's not fair to expect you to be the money collector after saying she'd pay, and she made no mention of asking to be reimbursed if you did find someone to take her ticket. We all know it's much harder to find someone to pay face value for a ticket - but she was was prepared to spoil your night out by not coming ( as did P) - they would have left you going on your ones and paying for their unused tickets! So yes Sarah Phillippa should both pay, as they agreed.
If they want to take it u with the C & J, then that's up to them

Then this is really your fault and problem to solve. You can’t expect to give away tickets (that you paid for) and still expect original people to pay. You should have been clear to the two that got to go the tickets cost X amount if they’d like them. If you were not prepared to do that then unfortunately you have to take the loss.

If I’d not asked Cheryl and Jessica then I wouldn’t be taking as big of a loss because Sarah and Philippa would have had to pay. As they agreed to do.

Essentially you paid for the tickets so they were your property. It makes sense that the 2 attendees should pay. I’m honestly baffled that they expected to go for free. I’d always offer if I was in that situation. If they’d have done that then maybe you wouldn’t be in this pickle

The people who went to the concert, obviously! (Assuming you didn’t tell them they wouldn’t have to pay and then that was the reason they went).
If you hadn’t found replacements then the original two should pay as they’d agreed to that when you went and booked so you’d be out of pocket because they changed their minds.

Yes, you are.

You made it sound like they didn’t need to pay. The costs of the tickets is down to you. Nobody owes anything.

C&J were not asked to pay prior to the event. S&P were not asked if they were happy for their tickets to be given away rather than sold.

Cheryl and Jessica should pay

It doesn't matter what would have happend in XYZ situation. You found other people to go with, so thinking about other scenarios is pointless. Jessica and Cheryl should pay as they were the ones who attended the event.

I think you have left yourself in a horrible position. The tickets were not yours to give away for free and your message was not clear that the new people wouldn’t be paying for them. I can see why the original people assumed you would get cash for them! But you didn’t tell the new people they had to pay. So I’m not sure any of them are going to pay you!

They’re not. I don’t care about the money, I care about Sarah and Philippa promising to pay for tickets and not doing so.

What was the time frame?

If S&P dropped out with weeks to spare and you managed to get J&C to replace them immediately then I'd expect J&C to have paid.

If it was a last minute cancellation then S&P should have already paid and wouldn't be refunded. Or should be liable to pay.

If there was sufficient notice though, you can't expect S&P to pay because you decided not to charge the replacements you took. That was on you.

Agree with this.

If you hadn’t asked C&J then S&P would still have been obliged to pay you.

all you needed to do was be clear in what you were doing. This is an absolute cluster fuck of poor communication from you.

But they didn’t pay and sounds like they wouldn’t of paid because they didn’t go and you gave away the tickets. They should of paid before you ordered the tickets so you weren’t put out and then it’s their issue to sort when they decided they didn’t want to go but that wasn’t the case, you bought them, you gave them away without asking for payment

But why would they pay for Cheryl and Jessica's tickets? Surely they have assumed you charged the people you took?