SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- Frank Carriedo and six family members traveled to Miami to watch Argentina play Cabo Verde in the Round of 32, but they were left standing outside the stadium without tickets.
The family purchased their tickets through StubHub back in October and was told the tickets would be transferred to their account 3 hours before kickoff. Those tickets never arrived.
"I paid my money, they got their money, and then you go to the game and find out there's no tickets," Carriedo said.
Carriedo says the trip was supposed to be a dream come true. The family paid about $15,000 in total, which included flights and an Airbnb, and took time off from work to make the trip happen.
When the family tried to resolve the issue, they say they were given the runaround.
"I think he talked to 4 or 5 people, and they were just giving him the runaround. They didn't have the guts to tell my godson that the tickets had been sold to someone else," Carriedo said.
StubHub blamed the issue on FIFA's ticket transfer technology.
"I knew Stubhub was doing this, and they were having issues with this problem, but I didn't know it would happen to us. Seriously, I didn't know it would happen to us," Carriedo said.
StubHub says it has been in contact with the family and offered them replacement tickets to an upcoming Argentina match, which they accepted, along with a full refund for the original tickets.
In a statement to ABC 10News they say, "StubHub was founded with the mission of making buying tickets easier and safer, and for 26 years, we’ve helped millions of fans access the events they love. The World Cup is no exception, but even a single bad experience is deeply disappointing for fans and for us. That’s why, in the rare instance that problems arise, our FanProtect Guarantee provides replacement tickets or a full refund—and why we are working tirelessly to resolve ticket transfer issues and get every fan into their match.”
But for the family, the offer came too late.
"I mean, the game already passed, so what, there's nothing to be done but for them to make it right for them, at least that's all we ask," Frank Carriedo's daughter, Mercedes Carriedo, said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
