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Ticketmaster distributes class action credits
By CMU Editorial | Published on Tuesday 6 December 2011
Live Nation’s Ticketmaster is sending out emails to its US customers alerting them to $1.50-$5.00 credits which they will be able to use against future ticket purchases as compensation for dubious and misleading processing and postage fees charged by the ticketing giant between 1999 and 2011.
As previously reported, way back in 2003 two Americans called Curt Schlesinger and Peter Lo Re sued Ticketmaster, claiming the ticketing giant had misled customers by implying in its marketing materials that “delivery fees” added to ticket purchases were simply a cost of sale, ie what it cost Ticketmaster to deliver tickets. In fact, a profit margin was included so the fee was a revenue. Given the size of the delivery fees (up to $25) that was probably a given, but the plaintiffs reckoned the ticketing firm was at fault for not explicitly stating so.
The case became a class action last year, meaning anyone who bought tickets on which the dubious delivery fees were charged was eligible for compensation. An out of court deal was then reached earlier this year. That settlement was originally knocked back by a judge, but got preliminary court approval back in October, though final approval won’t come until next May.
Under that deal, Live Nation will set aside a multi-million dollar fund from which credits will be offered to gig goers. Any American Tickemaster customer will be able to get a $1.50-$5.00 credit (the larger if they received their tickets via UPS, and were charged the higher delivery fee as a result) on up to seventeen tickets they bought via the ticketing agency in the last decade. Those credits could be used on any future ticket purchases, except for events at AEG-owned venues.
Ticketmaster is emailing its customers about the credit scheme this month, though the credits will only go into affect once the settlement deal is fully approved by a judge next year.
