A consumer law firm has filed a class action lawsuit against Ticketmaster, accusing the online box office of using a ‘misleading and deceptive’ process to sell insurance policies on show tickets .
Law firm LPC says Ticketmaster is not adequately informing spectators of the cost of insurance, according to the petition. When purchasing a ticket, the customer is asked if they want to “protect” their purchase with the option to check “yes” or “no”. “The price of the insurance is not mentioned and is not subsequently added to the total price,” the petition states.
After buying tickets to see the Cowboys Fringants, client Mathieu Trudel says he only learned about the cost of insurance after completing the transaction.
The information would have reached him in the attachment of an email confirming that his tickets had been “protected”. The cost of insurance was $16 before taxes. This represents 12% of the pre-tax value ($132) of his two tickets.
Prior to the motion, Ticketmaster customers’ frustrations with purchasing insurance had been aired by The Press last week.
Ticketmaster would violate the Consumer Protection Act, according to the firm LCP. Merchants are required to present all the sums to be paid by the consumer and this information must be presented in an obvious way.
The motion asks the court to force Ticketmaster to stop this practice. It is also asking for the reimbursement of the sums paid in insurance as well as damages of $200 per plaintiff for the inconveniences suffered by consumers.
It was not possible to have an immediate reaction from Ticketmaster.
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