Beware When Buying from Headout.com

I'm sorry that you had this problem. This is one reason why I always try to book tickets directly with the venue, rather than 3rd party sellers. You just have more protection that way. Good luck with Headout.com and I hope you find some recourse.

I agree with purchasing directly from a venue BUT OP did not cancel, the venue did and Headout should refund his money since the venue was in effect closed for the time frame of the ticket.

Very aggravating, Ravi. I'm not sure if your Credit Card company can help with a refund or not. You might contact them to see.

They do have a FB page but I'm not sure they are responsive since every reply on the site seems to be that they are "scammers", lol. I dod not look to see if they have a Twitter/X or IG page but contacting thru socials might work as well.

Pam is exactly right. I didn't cancel. I showed up at the scheduled time and the venue cancelled on me. I kept my end of the bargain, but was not allowed access to the venue, which is what I paid the ticket seller, i.e., Headout for. So Headout owes me a refund since they weren't able to provide what they promised me in return for the purchase price of the tickets and they should pursue the matter with the venue. I will try to see what recourse I have with my credit card company. Thanks!

You should contest with your credit card yes, but frankly Headout isn't responsible for government employees who decide to go on strike. This sounds like force majeure to me.

It might be worthwhile contacting the Centre des Monuments - if Headout is an authorized reseller, you could at least get a negative report into their file. You could also inquire how tickets bought directly would be handled for a cancellation such as you experienced:

https://www.sainte-chapelle.fr/nous-contacter

Also see clause 3 of the Terms and Conditions - you could try to submit a request directly to the Centre - there is a provision for those who can't use the ticket on a future date:

https://tickets.monuments-nationaux.fr/en-GB/terms-of-sales

Thanks Everyone for your suggestions and comments. My put is that the ticket seller is always responsible for providing the buyer with what he paid for when he purchased the ticket, in my case, entry into a specific venue, on a specific date, at a specific time. If the venue is in effect not operational at that time (even due to circumstances that are beyond the control of the ticket seller), the ticket seller should then provide the buyer with a refund (since the buyer didn't receive what he paid the ticket seller for). The ticket seller can then pursue the matter with the venue to get themselves reimbursed.

But I'm happy to say that after posting on this site and several others, Hedout.com did come through and provide me with a refund of the purchase price. So, kudos to them for living up to their obligation.

Ravi! That is very interesting that they came thru after your posts on social media. Good outcome for you and hopefully others will find this thread and book directly with the venues.

I’m very glad the original poster got their money back. However the terms and conditions on the site you buy from will override the terms and conditions from the actual tourist attraction. When you’re doing with the third-party purchase a lot of times there’s no refunds even if something is closed.

I’ve seen this quite often, it’s also true if you buy from random website you found on the Internet for airfare. You may never get your money back if your flight gets canceled because when you read the terms and conditions they get to keep your cash. Always read those terms before you purchase.

Carol, thanks. That is good information. I will certainly keep that in mind next time around.

Just another FYI about tickets

We hired a private guide for Sintra 2 weeks ago. The tour said entrance tickets additional cost. I offered to purchase the Peña Palace tickets but he told me he would, and we could reimburse him. He told me that day that if a licensed tour guides purchases the tickets they can be returned for a refund or changed for another date if the tour is cancelled. If I had purchased the tickets and had to cancel, I would be out the ticket price.

Coincidentally, 2 days later on a Portuguese holiday, the workers at the Jerónimos Monastery didn’t show up for work so it had to close for the day. We were with a tour guide and he just asked us if we could come back the next day, Sunday. Luckily we had the time. He had purchased our tickets.

I don’t know if this is true in other countries, we were in Portugal. But, next time I book a private guide with entrance fees, I will ask.

My put is that the ticket seller is always responsible for providing
the buyer with what he paid for when he purchased the ticket,

I'm glad it worked out in the end and a post like yours is always a good reminder about the 3rd party sites. Out of curiosity I read through Headout's terms and it says they are not responsible if the site makes changes and will only refund to you once they've received a refund from the site.