STERLING, Illinois -
Tonight a local doctor is finding himself in an international scandal surrounding the Olympics and possibly millions of dollars in missing tickets. He's out more than $10,000 so he contacted 8 On Your Side Reporter Chris Williams hoping for help with this ticket debacle of Olympic proportions.
Doctor Michael Gerberi has spent a lifetime perfecting the skill of keeping cool in a crisis situation.
"As a physician and a surgeon", he explained, "you have to train yourself to keep your emotions in check."
He held a blue envelope as we spoke with him. What's inside the blue envelope is the source of great frustration cutting at the heart of what's supposed to be a family trip to the Vancouver Olympic Games. On the eve of his trip, Doctor Gerberi learned more than $10,000 in winter games tickets he paid for haven't arrived and won't. They don't exist. He purchased through eseats.com, an on-line ticket broker with a Better Business Bureau rating for delivering on promises. They even boast about their reputation and guarantees on their website. But the only thing eseats owner Bob Bernstein will guarantee now is Doctor Gerberi is out of luck. The doctor says he only learned that during a phone conversation with Bernstein late last week.
"Without hesitation, you can forget about getting your money back we don't have it. It's not coming", he said describing the conversation with Bernstein. "In the next breath he said, if you'd like me to get you alternative tickets I'd be happy to help you and my reply was what makes you think I believe you?"
A press release online states that eseats filed a lawsuit against another broker called Action Seating. It claims the Georgia based broker breached its contract leaving eseats customers, like Gerberi out of the action. Bernstein did not return our request for an interview but CNN affiliate KPHO in Phoenix went to eseats for answers. After they were asked to leave the property Bernstein called to explain.
"The idea is to give everybody a full refund who doesn't get tickets, and those are interested in tickets, we'll do everything we can to put them into Olympic tickets", said Bernstein.
Doctor Gerberi doubts he'll get a refund. The ticket debacle of Olympic proportions has forced him to change some of his plans meaning one family member can't go now. He managed to score legitimate tickets to a couple of events and says he'll try not to let the situation with eseats keep him from enjoying himself.
It's unclear just how many tickets and how much money is involved in the scandal. Quotes from Bernstein online suggest that at least 175 customers are owed thousands of tickets. The total price tag could be in the millions of dollars.
Doctor Michael Gerberi has spent a lifetime perfecting the skill of keeping cool in a crisis situation.
"As a physician and a surgeon", he explained, "you have to train yourself to keep your emotions in check."
He held a blue envelope as we spoke with him. What's inside the blue envelope is the source of great frustration cutting at the heart of what's supposed to be a family trip to the Vancouver Olympic Games. On the eve of his trip, Doctor Gerberi learned more than $10,000 in winter games tickets he paid for haven't arrived and won't. They don't exist. He purchased through eseats.com, an on-line ticket broker with a Better Business Bureau rating for delivering on promises. They even boast about their reputation and guarantees on their website. But the only thing eseats owner Bob Bernstein will guarantee now is Doctor Gerberi is out of luck. The doctor says he only learned that during a phone conversation with Bernstein late last week.
"Without hesitation, you can forget about getting your money back we don't have it. It's not coming", he said describing the conversation with Bernstein. "In the next breath he said, if you'd like me to get you alternative tickets I'd be happy to help you and my reply was what makes you think I believe you?"
A press release online states that eseats filed a lawsuit against another broker called Action Seating. It claims the Georgia based broker breached its contract leaving eseats customers, like Gerberi out of the action. Bernstein did not return our request for an interview but CNN affiliate KPHO in Phoenix went to eseats for answers. After they were asked to leave the property Bernstein called to explain.
"The idea is to give everybody a full refund who doesn't get tickets, and those are interested in tickets, we'll do everything we can to put them into Olympic tickets", said Bernstein.
Doctor Gerberi doubts he'll get a refund. The ticket debacle of Olympic proportions has forced him to change some of his plans meaning one family member can't go now. He managed to score legitimate tickets to a couple of events and says he'll try not to let the situation with eseats keep him from enjoying himself.
It's unclear just how many tickets and how much money is involved in the scandal. Quotes from Bernstein online suggest that at least 175 customers are owed thousands of tickets. The total price tag could be in the millions of dollars.
