Customers not receiving tickets purchased online: Read this before you buy

ORLANDO, Fla. - FOX 35 is hearing from people who have purchased tickets to concerts and sporting events that they never received.

We spoke with one man who said it was his dream to see international soccer star Lionel Messi, so he bought tickets to the Orlando City game against Inter Miami CF in September. However, he never received his tickets even though the transaction was completed.

Another man experienced a similar scenario. Before news broke about Messi coming to play for Inter Miami CF, Rafael Torres snagged two tickets to the game on StubHub.

"I bought my tickets for about $55 and some change, with fees, and by the end of that day, the ticket prices have gone up to about $200," he explained.

That was June 7. One month later, he received an email.

"Due to unforeseen circumstances,' the vendor had canceled my tickets," Torres said. "I thought I got scammed!"

Torres reached out to FOX 35 News asking us to look into it. We started by reaching out to StubHub directly and got a response within a day or so.

StubHub told us they looked into the matter and said it was the seller who was unable to fulfill the order and had to cancel the sale.

StubHub said the person selling the ticket could have listed the ticket incorrectly, or the ticket was sold on another platform, and the seller forgot to remove the listing on its site. Ultimately, it costs the person selling the ticket.

That said, there are penalties if the seller chooses to cancel on you, according to StubHub.

"Those who fail to deliver the tickets are fined," StubHub said.

StubHub makes it known they are not responsible for a seller’s actions. FOX 35 read the StubHub global user agreement listed online. It states StubHub does not guarantee that a buyer or seller will complete a transaction.

Additionally, StubHub makes it clear it is a ticket marketplace where fans buy from and sell tickets to one another, meaning StubHub is not the one selling the tickets.

For now, however, the Better Business Bureau warns that this is the risk you take when you buy your tickets from a third-party ticket site. Sellers canceling a purchase is something that third-party ticketing sites have always had to deal with, and the BBB recommends you shop around first.

In this case, if you buy third-party tickets, and they are canceled, it is advised that you take the refund while you can so that it doesn't end up as a credit.

Torres told us that StubHub did offer him a refund and a credit, and he did take it, but that is not enough for another ticket to the soccer match in Orlando.