Four days before the second weekend of the iconic music and arts festival, Coachella, a busted order threatened to rain on the event for several parties. For a large and seasoned buying Broker, it was their relationship with a repeat retail customer who shelled out over $7,000 to attend. This large buying broker faced the failed delivery for 7 GA and VIP wristbands they ordered on Mercury, TicketNetwork’s premier exchange for broker-to-broker sales. Anxiety began to build for both the Broker and for their retail customer as having the wristbands in hand was mandatory before the customer chose to travel to Coachella. A refund would simply not be an acceptable solution.

That is when the broker contacted TicketNetwork. Client relations staff worked the issue with the Mercury selling broker and began internally mapping out replacement wristbands as a backup solution if needed. With just three days before the retail customer deadline, TicketNetwork moved quickly, escalating the situation to the compliance team, and preparing to offer full replacement cost – going beyond the TicketNetwork signature 200% guarantee on all Mercury transactions. Replacement inventory for Coachella was scarce due to strong demand with ticket prices rising each passing day.

As the window until expected delivery narrowed, the teams maintained urgent communications with the selling broker TicketNetwork pressed the broker who sold the tickets for early shipment before the delivery deadline. Even as the seller continued indicating fulfillment would occur up through the deadline, no such delivery ever occurred.

Knowing a busted order was imminent, TicketNetwork’s early preparation paid off. Substitute wristbands were located despite the nationwide shortage. TicketNetwork found replacements for the full set of orders through inventory on the Mercury exchange, and through a separate secondary exchange company – resulting in the the wristbands arriving with the retail customer two days before the event. As a result, the buying broker avoided out-of-pocket replacement expenses, and the retail customer received replacement wristbands in time for their travel to Coachella 2026 and the memories that followed.

The service provided by TicketNetwork protected the buying broker’s customer relationship and strengthened their confidence in the Mercury exchange. The buying broker avoided reputational damage, and the loss of a repeat high-value retail customer. As is standard response for poor performance and to avoid future risk of disruption to its brokers, TicketNetwork has since removed the seller from continued platform participation.

“When our Coachella passes hit a snag due to a supplier error, TicketNetwork didn’t deflect or pass the problem back to us. They owned it completely and went further. They secured replacement passes and made sure the original seller absorbed the cost, not us. Most companies would’ve called it a day after fixing the passes. TicketNetwork’s willingness to hold their suppliers accountable is exactly why we keep buying from them. They have your back when it matters.”