Viagogo taken to court by the CMA!
First published by Author on December 07, 2018 in the following categories: Compensation Claims Investigations Selling Restrictions and tagged with cma | Compensation | competition law | secondary ticketing
Big news in the competition industry right now is the news of Viagogo taken to court by the CMA (Competition and Markets Authority).
Proceedings were launched by the CMA in August 2018. This came off the back of the longstanding reviews and investigations they’ve been conducting into the secondary ticketing market.
Following the recent court case, the CMA has obtained a court order which compels Viagogo to change their business behaviour. It also opens the door for potentially millions of ponds to be paid back in compensation to customers. On top of that, they will also have to pay a third-party auditor to monitor their practices.
Viagogo taken to court by the CMA
Viagogo taken to court by the competition watchdog: it’s big news!
The court order means that Viagogo may have to pay millions of pounds in compensation, as well as paying for auditors to keep an eye on them.
It’s understood that an independent review is going to take place into unpaid claims from customers against the company. These are refused claims under the company’s guarantee to compensate customers who are unable to attend events.
Any instances of unpaid claims that should have actually been honoured may be overturned. Customers who had once been refused compensation may now receive the money they ought to have been entitled to.
The outcome of the review may come in the early parts of 2019.
Binding order after Viagogo taken to court
A legally-binging Order has been made with Viagogo taken to court by the CMA.
It means that the company is now compelled to:
- Inform customers which seat is theirs at the venue;
- Inform customers if there’s a risk that they will be turned away at the door of an event;
- Provide customers with information about the ticket seller to allow the buyer to benefit from enhanced legal rights when buying from a business;
- Make the process of customers getting their money back easier under the company’s compensation guarantee when things go wrong;
- Prevent the sale of tickets from a seller who doesn’t own the ticket(s) and may not be able to supply them.
The latter point is a big one. People have been ripped off by touts for years, and it’s secondary ticketing websites like Viagogo that allow it to happen. That’s why artists like Rammstein have also obtained their own legal orders to prevent sale of tickets via the website. With the recent scandals of fans having “invalid” tickets for Ed Sheeran concerts, and Spice Girls tickets on sale via the platform for thousands of pounds, the fans are suffering, and the touts are benefiting.
The court order also compels Viagogo to not provide misleading information about the availability and popularity of tickets as well. This has been a common thing the CMA has looked at in a broad range of industries. It can push people into making rushed – and expensive – decisions.