THE CUSTOMER YOU SPOKE TO DID SEE THE GAME, BUT SAYS IT CAME AT A SIGNIFICANT COST. YEAH. THIS IS NOW THE FIFTH STUBHUB CUSTOMER TO SHARE THEIR WORLD CUP TICKET. TROUBLE WITH US. THE COUPLE ACTUALLY ENDED UP GETTING INTO THE GAME THEY BOUGHT TICKETS FOR WITHOUT STUBHUB INTERVENING, BUT THEY HAD TO SPEND THOUSANDS MORE ON NEW TICKETS FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE. JUST TWO HOURS BEFORE THE GAME. IT’S A MOMENT HE’S BEEN DREAMING OF FOR THREE DECADES. I REMEMBER WATCHING THE 94 WORLD CUP AT HOME AS A HOW OLD WAS I THEN? LIKE TEN, 11, 12 YEARS OLD. JUST THINKING, WOW, HOW COOL WOULD IT BE TO BE ABLE TO GO TO A WORLD CUP SOMEDAY? ALBERT SHOIGU KNEW HE HAD TO BE AT THIS YEAR’S WORLD CUP. HE STARTED PLANNING BEFORE THE TEAMS WERE EVEN DECIDED. I WAS WAITING FOR THE FIFA, YOU KNOW, TICKETS TO BECOME AVAILABLE. I SIGNED UP FOR THE DROPS. UNFORTUNATELY NEVER GOT CONTACTED TO BUY THEM DIRECTLY. IN DECEMBER, THE NEW YORK AREA RESIDENT CAME ACROSS TWO TICKETS ON STUBHUB FOR ALMOST $900. I FELT LIKE, YOU KNOW, THIS IS A GREAT DEAL. LIKE, YES, IT’S STILL EXPENSIVE, BUT, YOU KNOW, IT’S PROBABLY ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE. AS WE’VE NOW SEEN HAPPEN. THE CATEGORY THREE TICKETS HAD NO SEAT OR ROW NUMBER ATTACHED, BUT STUBHUB PROMISED THEM BY THE JUNE 13TH MATCH DAY. MONTHS WENT BY. I STARTED REACHING OUT AND LEADING UP, YOU KNOW, THE DAYS LEADING UP TO THAT GAME, JUST TRYING TO FIGURE OUT LIKE, WHEN CAN I EXPECT TO GET MY TICKETS? STUBHUB TOLD SHOIGU THEY COULDN’T HELP HIM UNTIL THREE HOURS BEFORE KICKOFF. ON GAME DAY, HE AND HIS WIFE STARTED MAKING THEIR WAY TO THE STADIUM. THAT’S WHEN STUBHUB TOLD THEM, IT DOESN’T LOOK LIKE WE’RE GOING TO DELIVER THAT. THEY’RE GOING TO THE SELLER IS GOING TO DELIVER THEM. THAT’S WHEN THEY SEND US A LINK, YOU KNOW, FOR REPLACEMENT TICKETS. THAT LINK DIDN’T WORK. WE’RE NOW ALMOST TWO HOURS FROM GAME TIME. YOU KNOW, BOTH OF US ARE, YOU KNOW, KIND OF LIKE WORRIED WE’RE NOT GOING TO MAKE IT. THE LINK LOADED, BUT THE TICKETS WERE GONE. MY WIFE AND I, YOU KNOW, WE MADE A DECISION QUICKLY ON THE FLY. MAYBE IN THE HEAT OF THE MOMENT AND THE EMOTION, WE DECIDED, YOU KNOW, COULD WE FIND TICKETS ELSEWHERE? BECAUSE STUBHUB HAD ALSO TAKEN DOWN THE LISTING FOR THE GAME. SHOIGU BOUGHT TWO TICKETS ON A DIFFERENT SITE FOR ALMOST $3,800, MORE THAN FOUR TIMES WHAT HE ORIGINALLY PAID. I’M LUCKY. LIKE, YOU KNOW, LIKE $3,000 IS NOT GOING TO PUT ME UNDER WHAT I LIKE MY $3,000 BACK. ABSOLUTELY. BECAUSE I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING TO DESERVE TO HAVE TO SPEND THAT MUCH MORE. SHOIGU AND HIS WIFE MADE IT TO THE GAME. STILL PERPLEXED, SHE FOUND OUR COVERAGE OF OTHER CUSTOMERS ISSUES, REALIZING HE WAS NOT ALONE. FOR ME, THIS IS A CLASSIC CASE OF A BIG COMPANY TRYING TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE SITUATION, TRYING TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF INDIVIDUALS WHO THEY THINK DON’T HAVE A VOICE. STUBHUB BLAMED THE WORLD CUP TICKET ISSUES ON TRANSFER PROBLEMS WITH FIFA, AND SAY IT’S A TECHNICAL PROBLEM, NOT A TICKETING PROBLEM. THEY TOLD US IN A STATEMENT, QUOTE, WE’VE RESPONDED BY STANDING UP A DEDICATED WORLD CUP SUPPORT TEAM AND EXPANDING OUR CAPACITY TO SOURCE REPL
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A New York man’s long-awaited dream of attending the World Cup came at a significant cost after his StubHub ticket purchase fell through just hours before the kickoff. Albert Shiue, who had been planning to attend the World Cup for decades, said his passion for the event began as a child watching the 1994 tournament. “I remember watching the ’94 World Cup at home as a like 10, 11, 12-year-old, just thinking, ‘Wow, how cool would it be to be able to go to a World Cup someday!'” Shiue told sister station WBAL-TV. Determined to attend this year’s event, Shiue began planning before the teams were even decided.”I was waiting for the FIFA tickets to become available. I signed up for the drops and unfortunately never got contacted to buy them directly,” Shiue said.In December, Shiue found two tickets on StubHub for nearly $900. “(It) felt like, you know, this is a great deal. Like, yes, it’s still expensive, but it’s probably only going to get worse – as we’ve now seen happen,” Shiue said.The tickets, categorized as Category 3, did not include seat or row numbers, but StubHub promised delivery by the June 13 match day. Months passed, and Shiue began reaching out to StubHub as the game approached. “I started reaching out in the days leading up to that game just trying to figure out — when can I expect to get my tickets?” Shiue said.StubHub informed Shiue they could not assist him until three hours before kickoff. On game day, Shiue and his wife headed to the stadium, but StubHub delivered bad news. “It doesn’t look like the seller is going to deliver them. That’s when they sent us a link for replacement tickets,” Shiue said.The link StubHub provided did not work. “We’re now almost two hours from game time. Both of us are kind of worried we were not going to make it,” Shiue said.Although the link eventually loaded, the tickets were no longer available. “My wife and I, we made a decision quickly on the fly, maybe in the heat of the moment, could we find tickets elsewhere? Because StubHub had also taken down the listing for the game,” Shiue said.Shiue purchased two tickets from another site for nearly $3,800, more than four times the original price. “I’m lucky, $3,000 is not going to put me under. Would I like my $3,000 back? Absolutely. I didn’t do anything to deserve to have to spend that much more,” Shiue said.Despite the setback, Shiue and his wife made it to the game. Afterward, Shiue discovered coverage of other customers experiencing similar issues with StubHub.”For me, this is a classic case of a big company trying to take advantage of the situation, trying to take advantage of individuals who they think don’t have a voice,” Shiue said.In response to inquiries about ticket troubles, a StubHub spokesperson released the following statement:”The issues fans have experienced at this World Cup are largely transfer problems, not ticket problems. The event organizer’s own ticketing infrastructure, including a new app launched right before the tournament began, has had significant performance issues that have affected transfers across all resale platforms,” the company said in a written statement.”We’ve responded by standing up a dedicated World Cup support team and expanding our capacity to source replacement tickets for affected customers. Every order is backed by our FanProtect Guarantee, and getting fans to their matches remains our top priority for the rest of this tournament.”
A New York man’s long-awaited dream of attending the World Cup came at a significant cost after his StubHub ticket purchase fell through just hours before the kickoff.
Albert Shiue, who had been planning to attend the World Cup for decades, said his passion for the event began as a child watching the 1994 tournament.
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“I remember watching the ’94 World Cup at home as a like 10, 11, 12-year-old, just thinking, ‘Wow, how cool would it be to be able to go to a World Cup someday!'” Shiue told sister station WBAL-TV.
Determined to attend this year’s event, Shiue began planning before the teams were even decided.
“I was waiting for the FIFA tickets to become available. I signed up for the drops and unfortunately never got contacted to buy them directly,” Shiue said.
In December, Shiue found two tickets on StubHub for nearly $900.
“(It) felt like, you know, this is a great deal. Like, yes, it’s still expensive, but it’s probably only going to get worse – as we’ve now seen happen,” Shiue said.
The tickets, categorized as Category 3, did not include seat or row numbers, but StubHub promised delivery by the June 13 match day.
Months passed, and Shiue began reaching out to StubHub as the game approached.
“I started reaching out in the days leading up to that game just trying to figure out — when can I expect to get my tickets?” Shiue said.
StubHub informed Shiue they could not assist him until three hours before kickoff. On game day, Shiue and his wife headed to the stadium, but StubHub delivered bad news.
“It doesn’t look like the seller is going to deliver them. That’s when they sent us a link for replacement tickets,” Shiue said.
The link StubHub provided did not work.
“We’re now almost two hours from game time. Both of us are kind of worried we were not going to make it,” Shiue said.
Although the link eventually loaded, the tickets were no longer available.
“My wife and I, we made a decision quickly on the fly, maybe in the heat of the moment, could we find tickets elsewhere? Because StubHub had also taken down the listing for the game,” Shiue said.
Shiue purchased two tickets from another site for nearly $3,800, more than four times the original price.
“I’m lucky, $3,000 is not going to put me under. Would I like my $3,000 back? Absolutely. I didn’t do anything to deserve to have to spend that much more,” Shiue said.
Despite the setback, Shiue and his wife made it to the game. Afterward, Shiue discovered coverage of other customers experiencing similar issues with StubHub.
“For me, this is a classic case of a big company trying to take advantage of the situation, trying to take advantage of individuals who they think don’t have a voice,” Shiue said.
In response to inquiries about ticket troubles, a StubHub spokesperson released the following statement:
“The issues fans have experienced at this World Cup are largely transfer problems, not ticket problems. The event organizer’s own ticketing infrastructure, including a new app launched right before the tournament began, has had significant performance issues that have affected transfers across all resale platforms,” the company said in a written statement.
“We’ve responded by standing up a dedicated World Cup support team and expanding our capacity to source replacement tickets for affected customers. Every order is backed by our FanProtect Guarantee, and getting fans to their matches remains our top priority for the rest of this tournament.”
