Ticketmaster can’t seem to get it right.
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On Thursday (March 23), the Toronto Star reported that the ticket sales and distribution titan was hit with a class action lawsuit. The Montreal law firm LPC Avocat Inc., representing an unnamed party, alleged that Ticketmaster price-gauged tickets for the upcoming Drake and 21 Savage nationwide It’s All a Blur Tour.
Claiming they “intentionally mislead consumers for their own financial gain,” the suit filed by LPC Avocat Inc said their clients spent nearly $790 per ticket for the July 14 tour stop at Bell Centre in Montreal. However, a second show at the same venue was announced a day later, where prices were around $350 less for the same seats.
The suit asserts that Ticketmaster had prior knowledge of the second Montreal date but did not notify concert-goers in order to “squeeze out” money from customers. Additionally, LPC Avocat Inc. also accused Ticketmaster’s “Official Platinum” seating of being a sham, as tickets under that designation cost more but do not provide the buyer with seats that are any better than normal tickets.
“Ticketmaster unilaterally decides which tickets it advertises and sells as ‘Official Platinum’ based on a given event,” the lawsuit reads. “The result is that most, if not all, of the tickets advertised and sold as ‘Official Platinum’ are neither ‘premium tickets’ nor ‘some of the best seats in the house’ and are, in fact, just regular tickets sold by Ticketmaster at an artificially inflated premium in bad faith.”
The plaintiffs hope to win $300 per customer in damages as well as the difference of money between what an “Official Platinum” seat costs versus what it actually should cost at the standard price.
This latest suit involving the Drake-21 Savage tour comes just days after Neil Young and The Cure both criticized Ticketmaster’s methods of ticket sales. Both Young and The Cure were upset about additional fees charged to their fans when purchasing tickets, and Robert Smith of The Cure actually forced Ticketmaster to issue refunds.
Neither Ticketmaster or Drake have responded publicly to the lawsuit.
(Photo by Prince Williams/Wireimage)
