Tickets Stirring Confusion : Dodgers: Season-ticket holders get a second letter regarding refund policy for postseason games, but questions remain.

The Dodgers have created both confusion and a degree of suspicion among some season-ticket holders regarding their refund policy for postseason games that aren’t played.

The confusion started about a month ago when the application for postseason tickets informed season-ticket holders that they did not have to return the tickets for any games not played and that credit for those tickets would be applied to their 1992 season accounts.

There was no mention of a refund, leading some to believe that the Dodgers intended to retain the revenue from the unused tickets, banking windfall interest between Sept. 6, when season-ticket holders were required to have their postseason checks in, and Jan. 31, the deadline for 1992 season-ticket checks.

According to banking industry sources, the Dodgers could accrue at least $160,000 in interest with conservative investment instruments if they don’t make the playoffs. If they make the playoffs but not the World Series, they could make almost $100,000.

The Dodgers, at the time of the first letter, responded to inquiries by saying that cash refunds would be offered to those who wanted them.

However, a second letter mailed this week that accompanied the tickets did nothing to clear up the situation, leading to more confusion and suspicion.

Walter Nash, the club’s vice president of ticketing, said he has received no complaints and few inquiries about the plan. But the sports department of The Times has received almost two dozen calls from season-ticket holders who remain confused as to whether they can receive a cash refund.

The answer to that question, Nash said, remains yes.

The tickets were available only in strip form for all three playoff and all three World Series games scheduled for Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers have 7,500 season-ticket accounts and a total sale of 27,000 season tickets. Nash said the postseason plan was not designed to deceive anyone but to protect the season-ticket holder.

“By crediting the season account, the customer no longer has to return the unused tickets or worry about lost tickets for those games,” Nash said. “He no longer has to get them back from a client he may have given them to, and he is assured the credit will go directly to his account rather than the person holding the ticket.

“Most of the people we’ve talked to are happy with that process and happy to know they’ll be able to keep a souvenir (ticket) if the games aren’t played.

“The Dodgers have never attempted to keep money that doesn’t belong to us and we aren’t attempting that now.”

Nash said that within 48 hours of the Dodgers’ last postseason game, providing some of the six scheduled for Dodger Stadium aren’t played, season-ticket holders will be sent a letter informing them how much money is still credited to their account and giving them the option of a refund or leaving it credited to their 1992 account.

Nash said the option wasn’t spelled out in the initial two mailings because:

--That aspect of the policy is the same as it is for rained-out games and season-ticket holders are familiar with it.

--The Dodgers felt it would be easier for the season-ticket holder to make a choice if the option was layed out in conjunction with the club providing the exact amount left in his account at the end of postseason competition.

If that seems to beg the question of why season-ticket holders couldn’t have been told earlier they would have an option, the explanation is no less hazy than the intent.