TACOMA, Wash. - Marsha Rivera-Fletcher is an avid soccer fan.
"When the Sounders came to town, I was like, 'This is awesome! This is great!''" she said.
While there may not be a bigger fan than Marsha, there's not a more thoughtful husband, Scott. He bought the tickets for Marsha and her family to see the Sounders play Dallas as a birthday present.
"It's a no-brainer. Her whole family loves soccer, get the tickets," he said.
Through ticket broker Stub Hub, Scott even bought tickets for Marsha's parents for the big game.
"We went to Occidental Park and did the walk, listened to everybody chant," Scott recalled, "a big build-up. It's getting intense."
Marsha, Scott and the family made their way to Qwest Field, tickets in hand. But when they got to the gate, there was a problem. A big problem.
"We walked up to the ticket taker, she scans my ticket," Scott said. "Stop. All it says is stop. We try another one, try another one. Nothing."
Even though they came from a season ticket holder, Scott's tickets were no good. At the stadium's customer service they were offered a choice: Spend $250 for new tickets that were not all together, or go home. So they all went home.
"They ruined my birthday," Marsha said, "It was upsetting. What do you do?"
The Fletchers say they got nowhere with Stub Hub. So they called me.
The company quickly offered the couple a complete refund. Then I called the Sounders.
The team office says it was all a big mix-up. The original owners of the tickets are a private company. Someone from the company sold them on Stub Hub to Marcia and Scott. An investigation from the team revealed that someone else from that company didn't know the tickets were already sold and months later asked the Sounders re-issue the tickets so they could sell them to someone else. The Fletchers now understand, but don't feel any better.
"We missed out on a great game and an experience to do something with my wife. Instead I got to walk home with her with her crying on my shoulder," said Scott.
So what's the take-away here? If you buy tickets from a third party, call the venue and confirm they're good - whether it's a soccer game, a concert or any other event.
