7 On Your Side gets thousands back for family from popular ticketing app

Nina Pineda Image
Friday, May 30, 2025
7 On Your Side gets thousands back for family from popular ticketing app
Nina Pineda helped a family get a refund after they were charged double for what they said was a Knicks playoff ticket scam.

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- For those who can't make it to popular playoff basketball games, selling tickets is the way to go.

For one Knicks fan, using the popular ticket app StubHub led to a big loss.

With the Knicks down 3 to 1 in the series, the season ticket holders are hoping for a major comeback, but they also want their money back after being charged thousands for allegedly selling tickets that weren't any good.

With the Knicks in a quarter-century drought, the tickets were hot.

Hyla Altenu, her husband and three kids are Knicks fanatics.

Their season ticket split shared with friends scored them two tickets for the possible series clinch.

"We couldn't use them on a school night because it was late for them to we sold the ticket," Altenu said.

"The tickets were almost $4,000," her husband said. "We were excited, only to be disappointed that one of the buyers claim they were denied entry."

Altenu's husband couldn't appear on camera because of his job policy, but he said StubHub contacted the sellers as soon as their buyer cried foul.

"We felt bad we thought there was something wrong with the tickets," he said.

"They were going to refund the buyer and we had to prove that they were actually used," he added.

The Altenus got charged a penalty, not just the cost of the two tickets at $3375, but double at $6750.

"We lost our tickets and now we are out financially," Altenu said.

According to the StubHub user agreement, it can "charge the payment method on file for amounts you owe or costs we incur due to your misconduct."

"They charge our credit card 200% as a penalty. And then our credit card company couldn't even remove the charge because we're in dispute with StubHub," Altenu said.

"From our point of view, it seems like the buyer was trying to get in, go to a really popular game and not have to pay for it," her husband said.

What began as a worry-free situation to get rid of extra tickets now became a dilemma of debt.

"We saw you helped in the past with a Taylor Swift issue and you get things done Nina. So we didn't know where to turn," her husband said.

After 7 On Your Side provided the play-by-play to StubHub, they responded by saying, "While we continue to investigate what happened, we have reimbursed the customer in full."

"We couldn't have done it without you. We thought, where else can we turn and you helped us. We appreciate it," Altenu said.

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