AXS Ticketing will not honor a refund when their smartphone app fails to load ticket, denying you entrance to event.
Happened a while back to me. I own an Android phone, but when I went to use my $200 in tickets to a local event, the app wouldn't display them. Contacted AXS support and they were explicit in denying any recourse or access to a paper ticket.
Sounds like it's time for a credit card chargeback
That would indeed be the practical answer assuming he has a credit card with those protections. Credit cards not issued in the US or UK often lack chargeback protections in non-fraud situations.
Note as well that even in the US the chargeback merely moves the money back to the consumer and does not affect legal obligations. If AXS were motivated, they could sue the customer in that case and likely point to a contract that indemnifies them from software defects and incompatibilities.
I think most banks have a threshold where they eat the loss. I did a chargeback once for around ~$20 or 30. Then I found out that the bank’s cost of investigating the chargeback exceeds something like $50, so the bank just takes the hit instead of the merchant. I found that a bit disturbing because a malicious or reckless merchant has no risk on small transactions. But in the case at hand for $200, the bank would likely clawback the money from AXS.