Live music industry responds to ACCC court action against Viagogo

The Australian live music industry has welcomed as long overdue yesterday’s move by The Australian Competition and Consumer Authority (ACCC) to initiate Federal Court action against Geneva-based ticket reseller Viagogo.

The ACCC alleges that the company breached the Australian Consumer Law when reselling entertainment, music and live sport tickets from May 1 to June 26 this year.

According to ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard, Viagogo “made false or misleading representations, and engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct” regarding the price of tickets by failing to disclose substantial fees on the ticket.

Evelyn Richardson, CEO of Live Performance Australia tells TMN, “We’re pleased to see the regulator has taken action against Viagogo making it clear that ticket resale platforms must abide by the ACL.

“This has been a serious concern for our industry as ensuring consumers are protected is paramount.

“LPA has recently released a Safe Tix Guide as part of a campaign to educate consumers on buying tix safely.

“We will be doing more on this in the coming months.”

Harley Evans, founder and CEO of independent ticketing agency moshtix, also welcomes the ACCC’s move.

“The unauthorised secondary market has fast become the most topical and damaging development in our industry,” he points out.

“The sooner event organisers and venues can legitimately and legally ban the practice through their terms and conditions of sale and entry, the sooner the public will start to get them message when they’re denied entry at the event.

“And ticketing companies need to support the process by offering integrated tools to help ticket holders transfer,or resell their tickets in an authorised way.

“We at moshtix have offered this service for years, so it’s not new technology.”

A major grievance that promoters and venues have against Viagogo is that customers are often told tickets for a concert have “sold out” without acknowledging it is only the case on its platform.

This has caused a breach of confidence with customers, they say.

This was acknowledged in the ACCC’s legal action.

“Viagogo’s statements such as ‘less than 1% of tickets remaining’ created a sense of urgency for people to buy them straight away, when tickets may have still been available through other ticket sources,” Rickard said in the ACCC’s statement.

After the platform claimed that only eight Bernadette Robinson tickets were left, Harley Medcalf of Duet Entertainment and Sport was forced to take out a full-page ad in a Sydney Sunday newspaper on the weekend to say that he had 2700 left.

Bluesfest Byron Bay Director Peter Noble told ABC Radio, “Viagogo sells tickets without checking the validity of them. “Now those tickets are bootlegged, counterfeit, and the public finds out when they get to the gate (and refused entry) and it’s a horrible experience; it’s heartbreaking.”

The ACCC made its move after being contacted by 473 consumers about Viagogo this year.

“We allege that Viagogo failed to disclose significant and unavoidable fees upfront in the ticket price, including a 27.6% booking fee for most events and a handling fee,”Rickard said.

It cited a number of examples in relation to tickets advertised on Viagogo on May 18.

“The price of a Book of Mormon ticket increased from $135 to $177.45 (31% increase) when the $37.50 booking fee and $4.95 handling fees were included.

“The total price for three Ashes 2017-18 tickets increased from $330.15 to $426.82 (29% increase) when the $91.71 booking fee and $4.95 handling fees were included.

“The total price for two Cat Stevens tickets increased from $450.00 to $579.95 (29% increase) when the $125 booking fee and $4.95 handling fees were included.”

“The ACCC expects all ticket reselling websites to be clear and upfront about the fees they charge, the type of tickets they sell and the nature of their business,” Rickard said.

The ACCC is seeking “declarations, injunctions, pecuniary penalties, corrective publication orders, orders for a compliance program and costs.”