World Cup fans left flustered by last-minute StubHub ticket cancellations

NEW YORK, June 26 : Jeremy Wright knew exactly what he wanted to gift his wife, Sarah, for Christmas last year: tickets to a World Cup soccer game.

Wright used U.S. resale platform StubHub and snagged two tickets to watch the Netherlands take on Japan on June 14.

Or so he thought.

After more than 10 months of planning, the Wrights drove from Austin to Dallas and joined other fans in their hotel lobby to celebrate the occasion.

But their excitement turned to bitter disappointment after an email from StubHub just five hours prior to kickoff informed them that their tickets could not be delivered.

That email, seen by Reuters, told Jeremy that StubHub had found new tickets at no extra cost, covering him under its "FanProtect Guarantee."

However, when he followed the steps to claim the new tickets, the only option StubHub gave him was to take a refund.

After hours waiting for and trying to get StubHub customer support to look into the issue, the Wrights gave up and drove back to Austin in the rain.

ANGRY TICKET BUYERS

The Wrights are among dozens of angry ticket buyers who took to social media this month after last-minute cancellations on StubHub left them without tickets they had purchased, often after similar assurances they would get replacement tickets.

It is also the latest ticketing issue surrounding the first North American World Cup in more than three decades, after world soccer governing body FIFA's decision to adopt dynamic pricing for the first time invited criticism from some fans.

StubHub is not an official ticketing partner of the World Cup and is a resale-only platform. It does not possess the tickets or set the prices, and order cancellations are due to issues with delivery from sellers, a spokesperson said.

StubHub said