StubHub sued by fans who say ticket cancelations crushed dreams of going to World Cup

NEW YORK: After weeks of complaints from frustrated fans, StubHub is being sued by customers who say the ticket reseller’s inability to fulfill orders crushed their dreams of going to World Cup.
Julia Reeker Moghal and Reuben Renteria, both of California, sued the ticketing giant this week in federal court in New York, alleging that “false and misleading” sales practices left them without the tickets they purchased for group stage matches last month.
The lawsuit, which seeks to become a class action, says Moghal and Renteria are among hundreds or even thousands of World Cup fans who purchased tickets only to find out that they “did not exist, were revoked without any forewarning, or had been erased” because of what the tournament’s organizer, FIFA, deemed “poor digital infrastructure.”
In addition to monetary damages, Moghal and Renteria are asking that StubHub be barred from selling World Cup tickets and that any profits from those sales be given to affected customers.
StubHub declined to comment on the lawsuit but said in a statement that its “singular goal is to get fans into events.”
If anything goes wrong, “our FanProtect Guarantee provides replacement tickets or a full refund,” the company said.

“The World Cup is no different, and the issues fans have experienced are largely driven by problems with the event organizer’s own ticketing infrastructure.”
FIFA encourages fans to buy tickets through its own marketplace, where it adds a 30 percent surcharge to every resold ticket — 15 percent each from the buyer and seller.
In a statement, the organization said it “has no visibility over, or control of, secondary market ticket transactions carried out on third-party platforms” and “rejects any suggestion that the