Poor Grandpa Chico Mendez just wanted to watch his beloved Mexico play at the World Cup. Instead, he got a front-row seat to one of the world’s oldest scams: fake tickets.
At 89 years old, Chico’s dream was simple. Attend a FIFA World Cup match, cheer for Mexico, make memories and maybe cry tears of joy. Unfortunately, the tears came anyway, just for all the wrong reasons.
His granddaughter, Paola Hernández, decided to make the dream happen. And when we say she committed, we mean she really committed. The 26-year-old spent around $6K to create the ultimate World Cup experience for her grandpa.
But the once-in-a-lifetime granddaughter-grandpa sporting experience went offsides when Hernández noticed her tickets, which she’d paid $6,000 for on StubHub, were not loading on the app.
“Everything seemed fine — it was confirmed, and the payment had gone through,” Hernández said.
“I’ve used StubHub before and bought tickets there without any issues. We arrived at the event, and well they still hadn’t sent them to me.”
Imagine being 89 years old, standing outside a World Cup match you’ve waited your entire life to attend, only to discover your tickets are about as real as a politician’s promise.
Worried that she had been the victim of a scam, Hernández reached out to StubHub multiple times and was told to wait because the ticket resale site needed to provide the seller enough time to transfer the tickets via FIFA’s app.
Hernández was devastated when StubHub’s customer service center told her she’d need to wait until halftime to get the tickets.
But the tickets never arrived.
After a scoreless first half, Luis Romo sent one past the Korean goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu.
That’s when it all became too much for Mendez, dressed head-to-toe in Mexican soccer merch, including a jacket, green track pants and white cap, who broke down in tears as he heard the roars of 45,522 fans inside.
“It broke my heart. I was in tears seeing how his little heart was broken,” Hernández said. “He had come with such excitement and high hopes — I mean, it was his dream — and seeing that literally stolen from him … seeing him cry outside the stadium just broke my heart.”
The ticket platform reached out Hernández and refunded her money and offered tickets to one of the remaining World Cup games.
Mexico’s next match will be against Czechia on June 24 in Mexico City and they could host a Round of 32 game in the Mexican capital on June 30.
However, Hernández said traveling to Mexico City is out of the question because it’s 7,350 feet above sea level, and her grandfather has high blood pressure.
A spokesperson for StubHub told The California Post the company was “heartbroken” for what the pair experienced.
After waiting 89 years, Grandpa Chico deserves better than getting benched by a scammer.
