Melbourne woman Aihua Liu, 62, is a self-professed “long-time fan” of Chinese pianist Yundi Li and leapt at the chance to attend his world tour when he was due to come to Australia.

In 2019, she purchased two tickets for herself and another family member for $523.95 from international ticketing company Ticketmaster, in time for the pianist’s tour the following year.

But then Covid hit, destroying the live music scene across the world, and the family thought they would receive a refund for their ticket purchase.

Instead, they say, it’s become a lot more “ridiculous” than that.

Ms Liu’s son Collin Wang, 35, has been advocating for his mum and said he has been left shocked at the level of “incompetence” from Ticketmaster.

“It’s absolutely appalling behaviour,” he said, calling Ticketmaster “unscrupulous”.

After the concert was “postponed for multiple years” amid Covid, aspiring attendees including Ms Liu finally received a much-awaited email in October this year.

Ticketmaster offered the option of a rescheduled concert to take place on November 5, 2023 or the option for a refund. Customers had to indicate which one they wanted by November 2.

Ms Liu opted for a refund and submitted this well ahead of the deadline.

But here, she hit another roadblock. Since it had been so long, the credit card she had used to purchase the tickets had expired and she spent several weeks going through hoops proving she was the same person as the original buyer and providing new billing details for the refund.

Finally, she thought the refund was imminent.

But then on November 9 – after the rescheduled concert had already gone ahead – Ticketmaster said they would not be giving a refund.

“Unfortunately your refund request has been declined as per the conditions of our Purchase Policy,” the email read. “We do apologise for the inconvenience this has caused.”

By this point, it was too late for Ms Liu to take Ticketmaster up on their rescheduled concert.

The family escalated this higher up the chain in Ticketmaster but found little sympathy.

“Please note that this is an unacceptable outcome. I purchased tickets for an event that was postponed for multiple years,” Ms Liu wrote to them.

“I have not been provided with what I am entitled to under Australian Consumer Law. I urge you to reconsider your position and resolve this matter amicably before we escalate this further. To reiterate, this was a postponed event – I am absolutely entitled to a refund.”

She also wrote: “Your actions/inactions to date have been ridiculous. A refund at this point won’t even be enough to quell my anger at being bullied by a large corporation.”

However, the company did not budge.

“Ticketmaster acts as the agent to those who are promoting or otherwise providing the events for which you purchase tickets,” a customer service representative responded.

“Policies set forth by our clients, including venues, teams, and theatres, generally prohibit Ticketmaster from issuing exchanges or refunds after a ticket has been purchased.”

There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Yundi Li, and Ms Liu’s claims are entirely directed to Ticketmaster.

Her son, Mr Wang, said of the ordeal: “They go around in circles with their policies to try and waive their responsibilities”.

Last month, the family lodged a complaint with Consumer Affairs Victoria.

Once the consumer protection agency had gathered evidence and approached Ticketmaster on their behalf, a refund had been issued within 24 hours.

“They’ll do the bare minimum until they’re forced to do something,” Mr Wang lamented.

Ticketmaster did not respond to questions about claims the company is ridiculous and incompetent.

“We apologise for any inconvenience and can confirm the customer has received a full refund,” a company said in a statement to news.com.au.

alex.turner-cohen@news.com.au