World Cup and concert fans are demanding refunds after resale tickets were cancelled or removed shortly before major events, CBC News reports.
Fans who bought resale tickets for World Cup matches and major concerts are pressing ticket platforms for refunds after some seats were cancelled or disappeared from apps only hours before event time, according to CBC News.
The complaints point to a familiar risk for buyers chasing seats to high-demand events: paying months in advance does not always mean the ticket will still be available when travel, hotels and the event itself are already underway.
Kelly Mongillo of Barrie, Ont., told CBC she paid StubHub $1,700 Cdn in August 2025 for two tickets to see Brazil play Morocco in New Jersey on June 13. The trip was meant to be a once-in-a-lifetime World Cup outing with her 72-year-old father, Larry.
Mongillo said she repeatedly contacted StubHub after hearing of ticketing problems elsewhere and was assured her order was being watched. But after flying from Toronto and checking into a New Jersey hotel, she said the tickets still had not appeared in her digital wallet as she and her father headed to the stadium. A final call to StubHub brought the answer she had feared: the tickets were no longer available.
“I was shocked. My dad was devastated,” Mongillo told CBC. She said she has asked StubHub to honour its FanProtect Guarantee and reimburse not only the tickets, but also the travel costs tied to the failed trip.
CBC reported that hundreds of people have posted similar complaints on social media involving World Cup tickets bought through StubHub and SeatGeek. One Texas fan wrote on Reddit that he and his wife drove four hours to Dallas and booked a hotel before learning shortly before a match that tickets purchased months earlier were unavailable.
StubHub spokesperson Jack Sterne told CBC after the outlet contacted the company that Mongillo and her father would be reimbursed. He said World Cup ticketing has created difficulties for the resale site and pointed to FIFA-controlled ticketing technology, new transfer restrictions and a newly launched app as factors behind problems fans have faced. Mongillo later said StubHub provided her with two tickets to a Germany vs. Ivory Coast game in Toronto on Saturday.
The issue has not been limited to soccer. Toronto resident Adair Roberts told CBC she bought $1,000 resale tickets through Ticketmaster to take her 19-year-old son to Bruce Springsteen’s May 22 concert in Cleveland. Because the venue used SeatGeek as its primary ticket company, she was directed to load the tickets into the SeatGeek app. Hours before the show, Roberts said she was told the tickets had been removed without explanation.
Roberts bought a second set of tickets so she and her son could still attend. After CBC contacted SeatGeek, spokesperson Cameron Papp said the company reviewed the case, agreed it fell short of its standard and issued a refund for the replacement tickets plus a $900 coupon for future purchases. SeatGeek declined to explain what happened to the original tickets.
For buyers, the unresolved question is how much protection resale guarantees provide when a ticket failure also carries travel costs and lost experiences. For the platforms, the latest complaints add pressure to show that high-priced resale orders can be trusted before fans make the trip.
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