CBC INVESTIGATES | StubHub owes refunds to thousands of fans. Here are 5 things you need to know

Fans in Canada, U.S. lawyer up amid mass cancellation of World Cup tickets

Soccer fans in Vancouver react to the final minutes of Canada's losing World Cup match against Morocco on July 4, 2026. Now, fans in both Canada and the U.S. are lawyering up over mass World Cup ticket cancellations by StubHub.

Photo: Getty Images / Verity Griffin

Dave Seglins (new window), Kathleen Coughlin (new window), Ariel Tozman (new window) · CBC News

Mark Gallagher is more than fed up with StubHub.

On Wednesday, the Vancouver resident filed a proposed class action (new window) on behalf of ticket buyers in Canada after the ticket resale site cancelled his World Cup tickets and those of thousands of other soccer fans.

I just think the truth needs to come out on what's really going on here, he told CBC News.

Missing the event — that outcome isn't measured in dollars. You never get to see it again, even though you had the full intent and followed whatever the rules were to get there. So what I hope to get out of this is change.

StubHub cancelled his $11,407 pair of prime seats for the June 18 game in Vancouver between Canada and Qatar — which he bought in February — hours before game time, despite repeated assurances in the weeks, days and hours beforehand that his tickets would be delivered to his online FIFA account.

Gallagher got a refund — but having missed the game, he’s still taking StubHub to court seeking punitive damages, alleging a conspiracy of deception for promising tickets for sale which they knew would not or could not be honoured.

WATCH | World Cup fan left empty-handed:

Gallagher is the first to file a class action claim in Canada against StubHub, following similar actions in New York and California stemming from the company’s cancellation of thousands of World Cup tickets.

The suit was filed Wednesday in Vancouver and its claims have not been tested in court.

Despite a "FanProtect Guarantee (new window)promising refunds or replacement tickets within 5 business days (new window)," CBC News has found legions of StubHub customers for a variety of events facing lengthy delays, disputes and run-arounds in their quests for compensation.

CBC News asked StubHub a series of detailed questions about its refund and dispute policies. The company declined to provide specific answers and instead emailed a statement.

Our goal is to get every fan into their event, every time, and if something goes wrong, we always want to find them replacement tickets, the statement said. We never want to give a refund and no fan wants to receive one — we want you to get to your event.

Here are five things you should know about getting compensation from StubHub:

1. StubHub doesn’t cover travel or hotel expenses.

Kelly Mongillo spent $2,500 on hotels, gas and food plus $1,800 on tickets to see a World Cup match in New Jersey on June 13, driving 10 hours from Barrie, Ont., with her elderly father.

StubHub cancelled on game day as the pair waited outside the stadium gates.

Mongillo says StubHub has been dismissive, and that its FanProtect Guarantee fails to cover the significant financial losses and disappointment she suffered.

It provides consumers with a false sense of security, she told CBC News.

Despite relying on their repeated assurances that replacement tickets would be provided if my original tickets did not come through, they have refused to compensate me for any of those travel-related costs.

Kelly Mongillo of Barrie, Ont., left, and her father, Larry, had StubHub tickets cancelled. They missed the World Cup game between Brazil and Morocco in New Jersey.

Photo: (Submitted by Kelly Mongillo, Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images)

The company’s Global User Agreement includes a waiver that attempts to prevent Canadian and U.S. customers from launching lawsuits to recoup more than simply a ticket refund — such as travel expenses or legal fees associated with ticket cancellation.

When Mongillo went public on CBC News back in June, StubHub offered her both a refund and replacement tickets to a different World Cup game in Toronto (which her father couldn’t attend).

She took the tickets, but says StubHub has since reneged on the cash refund.

2. Refunds come faster if you lawyer up.

Jennifer Hale of Toronto paid StubHub nearly $3,000 for tickets to a Team Canada game in Toronto on June 12.

StubHub cancelled and Hale immediately asked for a refund.

That was more than a month ago.

She’s called the company repeatedly and keeps being told to wait 72 hours.

No refund and no contact from them at all, Hale wrote in an email, detailing hours spent on the phone.

Every time I call, they just keep telling me that I need to wait. The last guy I spoke to said it could take up to 45 days, she said. I’m not sure what else to do?

Denis Radetic of Georgetown, Ont. — west of Toronto — grew tired of waiting. Last week, after a month of excuses, he hired a U.S. lawyer who has been contacted by hundreds of angry StubHub users, looking for help.

In a letter threatening further legal action, Radetic demanded StubHub pay both a refund for cancelled tickets and $3,000 US for lawyer's fees, accusing the company of potential fraud … negligent misrepresentation, breach of contract.

Denis Radetic hired a lawyer after StubHub cancelled the World Cup tickets he bought for himself and his two kids.

Photo: Submitted by Denis Radetic

I'm sure a lot of people are hesitant about hiring a lawyer, Radetic said. I feel like StubHub is kind of taking advantage and seeing who will really push them to get the money back versus who will just kind of let it go with time and perhaps not get their money back.

On Sunday, StubHub contacted Radetic and has since refunded his credit card.

StubHub declined to tell CBC News why it gives special attention to customers who’ve engaged a lawyer or who’ve gone to the media.

The kicker is StubHub followed up with a survey to ask Radetic how he had enjoyed the game… that he missed.

3. StubHub arbitration frustrates fans.

StubHub’s official policy instructs complainants who are dissatisfied with StubHub’s refund decisions to file notices of dispute through a U.S.-based arbitration process.

Brad Clements, a lawyer based in Menlo Park, Calif., helped Denis Radetic get his money back and says he is swamped representing hundreds of other U.S. and Canadian StubHub buyers and sellers seeking refunds from the company.

He believes StubHub’s arbitration policy is deliberately confusing.

They're trying to make it look like they're going to do right by the consumer and they really care about the consumer. But it's a total farce, because they have everything actually designed to intimidate you, delay you, deny you, if you do bring a dispute.

For example, Clements says StubHub has changed the address where customers are supposed to send their notices of dispute via certified mail a total of seven times in the last 14 months.

StubHub’s Canadian website, StubHub.ca (new window), lacks any mention of where and how to file official disputes.

StubHub declined to answer why it has changed its mailing address multiple times or why details on how to file a notice of dispute don’t appear on StubHub.ca (new window).

WATCH | Barriers to filing a dispute:

They don't want people bringing cases, said Clements. They want to make it so godawful for you that you don't go and tell your friends that you won your refund plus interest plus some amount for lost time plus punitive damages, right?

4. StubHub makes money, even when it cancels tickets.

Fans may be surprised to learn that StubHub profits regardless of whether or not it delivers on its ticket orders.

Randy Nichols, a band manager based in New York City, says StubHub makes money on cancelled transactions.

After StubHub refunds fans, it recoups the ticket price by charging the seller its listed cost – even though the company never actually owned the ticket. According to StubHub, that’s to discourage fraudulent or bogus listings.

The way StubHub is currently structured, they charge the seller a 100 per cent fine on every ticket that they don't deliver. Which means that StubHub makes money on every order that they don’t fulfill, said Nichols.

StubHub leaders pose for photos at the New York Stock Exchange before the company’s IPO in 2025.

Photo: Associated Press / Richard Drew

StubHub declined to comment, but according to its seller policies (new window), the company warns resellers, If you dropped your sale, we will charge your payment method an amount equal to the greater of (i) 100% of the price of the ticket(s) sold or (ii) the full amount incurred by us to remedy the dropped sale.

5. StubHub holds money but doesn’t refund your interest.

Jeff Ripley of Spokane, Wash., is taking StubHub to arbitration, arguing the company owes him more than the face value of the World Cup tickets he bought last December, only to have them cancelled on game day.

They're sitting on that money, making interest on it. How many thousands of people has this happened to? he asked rhetorically in an interview with CBC News.

StubHub’s reported earning $41 million in interest in its November 2025 earnings report during the previous year.

StubHub declined requests for comment on the interest it collects on fans’ money.

Ripley says there needs to be an investigation into how StubHub — which facilitated the resale of $9.2 billion in tickets globally last year – holds on to customers' money for months at a time, likening it to free loans for a bank.

There's something wrong, he said. They almost work like a financial institution in that I deposited money in a savings or checking account and they got interest.

There has to be some accountability for companies that are taking money, earning interest on it and then not providing a product.