Ticketmaster to pay $4.5M to settle misleading pricing case: Competition Bureau

Ticketmaster has been fined $4-million and will pay an additional $500,000 in legal costs after a probe by the Competition Bureau found that its online pricing was misleading and that consumers were hit with additional mandatory fees “in the later stages of the purchasing process.”

Three companies owned by Ticketmaster — Ticketmaster L.L.C., TNow Entertainment Group, Inc. and Ticketmaster Canada LP — were accused of engaging in misleading pricing.

“The Bureau’s investigation concluded that Ticketmaster’s advertised prices were not attainable because they added mandatory fees during the later stages of the purchasing process,” the Competition Bureau said in a release.

“In the Bureau’s view, the price representations were misleading even though the amount of the fees was disclosed before consumers completed their transaction. The Bureau concluded that the additional fees often added more than 20% and, in some cases, over 65% to the advertised prices.”

The Competition Bureau says that additionally, the companies will establish a compliance program “to ensure their advertising complies with the law and will implement new procedures to prevent advertising issues in the future.”

“Canadians should be able to trust that the prices advertised are the ones they will pay when purchasing tickets online,” Matthew Boswell, Commissioner of Competition, said in a release.

“The Bureau will remain vigilant and will not tolerate misleading representations. The Bureau expects all ticket vendors to take note and review their marketing practices, knowing that the Bureau continues to examine similar issues in the marketplace and will take action as necessary.”

In a statement, Ticketmaster says it is committed to “leading the industry in consumer safety and transparency.”

“Last July, Ticketmaster was the first ticket company to voluntarily ensure total prices were displayed upfront to Canadian consumers. We look forward to the Competition Bureau and individual provinces ensuring that all other ticket marketplaces in the live event industry meet the same standards,” the company stated.

“Ticketmaster welcomes new consumer protection legislation across Canada to improve transparency, fight cheater bots that steal tickets, and reduce fraud in the secondary sales market and will continue to actively participate in federal and provincial conversations to create the safest ticketing environment for fans and event owners alike.”

According to the Government of Canada website, the Competition Bureau is as a federal institution and independent law enforcement agency “that ensures Canadian businesses and consumers prosper in a competitive and innovative marketplace.”