Oct 5, 2026
Jennifer Hale paid almost $3,000 on StubHub to see Team Canada play in Toronto on June 12, only for the ticketing company to cancel her order. By mid-July — more than a month later — she still had no refund and kept being told to wait another 72 hours.
She’s not alone. This summer, StubHub cancelled thousands of World Cup tickets for matches in Vancouver, Toronto and other host cities — some just hours before kickoff.
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Customers still seeking refunds now face a new hurdle: the arbitration body designated in StubHub’s user agreement disclosed, in a Sept. 28 letter, that the company has repeatedly failed to pay its fees on time.
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Here’s what that means if you’re owed money — and how to push for it.
Why does StubHub send refund fights to arbitration?
When you buy or sell tickets on StubHub, you usually have to agree to their user terms. According to The Globe and Mail, those terms state that if an issue comes up that you can’t resolve directly with StubHub, it gets sent to the American Arbitration Association — a U.S. non-profit that acts as an outside referee for private disputes.
In theory, that’s a decent deal for consumers: a neutral arbitrator hears your case, often virtually, and StubHub’s agreement doesn’t require customers to pay arbitration fees on claims of $10,000 or less.
The catch is that this clause makes it much harder to sue StubHub or join a class-action lawsuit. Adil Abdulla, a Toronto lawyer with Sotos Class Actions, explained to the Globe that while arbitration rules usually shut down class actions, a few provinces do make exceptions.
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What’s going wrong with the arbitration process?
Brad Clements, a lawyer based in Texas and California who represents more than 350 StubHub customers in Canada and the U.S., shared letters with the Globe & Mail showing the AAA asked StubHub as early as May 2025 to remove the association’s name from its user agreement after a customer’s fees weren’t paid on time. The AAA also warned it may stop handling consumer cases involving StubHub.
Clements says he’s personally seen around six cases where StubHub skipped out on its fees. In some instances, he ended up covering the costs himself. In others, StubHub only shelled out the cash after the AAA threw the case out — which meant starting the process all over again, paying refiling fees and waiting even longer.
“It’s really about inconsistent behaviour,” Clements told the Globe.
StubHub spokesperson Jack Sterne told the Globe that the company always pays its required arbitration fees, suggesting that rapid-fire claims can sometimes cause a temporary delay in processing the payments. Clements previously told CBC News that StubHub changed the mailing address for formal dispute notices seven times in 14 months, and that StubHub.ca doesn’t explain how to file one.
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Arbitration can still work out — Clements notes that when StubHub actually pays on time, cases move forward. You just shouldn’t expect a quick turnaround. Legal pressure can help, though: CBC News reported that StubHub refunded Denis Radetic of Georgetown, ON, within days of his lawyer sending a demand letter.
What can Canadians do instead of waiting?
Start with your credit card
If you used a credit card to purchase the tickets, reach out to your provider and request a chargeback to get your money refunded. In fact, some provinces actually have laws on the books that protect your right to do this.
In British Columbia, Consumer Protection BC, the province’s consumer protection regulator, says that if you cancel an eligible online purchase and aren’t refunded within 15 days, you can ask your card provider to reverse the charges using its request form.
In Quebec, Éducaloi, a non-profit legal information organization, says that for undelivered online purchases, you have 60 days after a merchant refuses a refund to request a chargeback, and the card company must reimburse you within 90 days.
Check your province’s rules
Abdulla told the Globe that mandatory arbitration clauses aren’t enforceable in Ontario, which means buyers there might be able to head straight to small claims court. B.C. pushed for a similar shift in March 2025, though recent court decisions have still upheld certain clauses depending on when the dispute happened.
Courts and regulators are also involved. Mark Gallagher, a Vancouver resident whose $11,407 pair of seats was cancelled hours before kickoff, filed the first proposed class action in Canada against StubHub over the cancellations. And B.C.’s attorney general launched an investigation into StubHub’s handling of World Cup tickets.
Don’t count on extras
StubHub’s user agreement includes a waiver aimed at stopping Canadian and U.S. buyers from suing for anything beyond the cost of the ticket — like travel expenses or legal fees. Whether that actually holds up in court depends on your province, so definitely hang onto your receipts.
What to do now
- Ask StubHub for your refund in writing and save every email, chat transcript and call log
- Note the date your order was cancelled — card dispute windows can be short
- If you used a credit card, file a chargeback with your bank and mention your province’s consumer protection laws if they apply
- File a complaint with your provincial consumer protection office if both StubHub and your card issuer refuse
- Before mailing a formal dispute, confirm StubHub’s current notice-of-dispute address
- Hang onto your flight, hotel, and transit receipts just in case a class-action lawsuit or government ruling ends up covering more than just the price of the ticket
Next time you drop big money on event tickets, just keep in mind that a resale guarantee is only as good as the company backing it up. Clements has advised World Cup fans to buy directly from FIFA, rather than resale sites. If there’s an official resale option, stick with that — and always pay with a credit card so you’ve got a safety net if your tickets don’t show up.
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Amy Tokic is an SEO content editor for Money.ca. She holds a B.A. in Communications from the University of Windsor. Amy is an award-winning author and has been writing professionally for 15 years, publishing articles in the lifestyle and health sectors.
