Vivid Seats, LLC sells tickets to concerts, sports events, and other live shows, but the complaint for this class action alleges that it encourages people to buy by “advertising artificially low ticket prices while hiding the amount of fees it charges for each sale.” The complaint claims that only at checkout do consumers find out what they really have to pay for the tickets.
The class for this action is all persons in California who bought tickets from Vivid between May 27, 2018 and the present.
Consumers buy tickets online, while seeing a lower advertised price for the tickets than they will be eventually asked to pay. The complaint alleges that they are shown the true price only at checkout, that is, “after consumers have already selected seats at a lower advertised price (that does not include fees), created a Vivid account or entered login credentials, entered credit card information, and made the decision to buy.”
In addition, the complaint says, on the mobile app, the fees are not itemized even at checkout, but “hidden in a separate link.”
According to the complaint, consumers who use the mobile app may never be completely aware that they are being charged fees under categories such as service, electronic transfer, mobile delivery, or Flash Seats that eventually get included in the price. They simply end up paying the inflated price although, the complaint alleges, it is not what they bargained for. The complaint alleges that this constitutes a bait-and-switch scheme.
The fees are even more confusing for consumers, the complaint says, in that they are not set flat fees or even a set percentage of the purchase price, and can range from 30% to 60% of the cost of the ticket itself. Because the fees are so irregular, consumers cannot predict how much they will come to. The fact that the total fees added are varying rather than set, the complaint says, suggests that they are also not compensation for particular expenses but “pure profit-generators.”
The complaint provides the example of tickets for the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix on May 8, 2022 which are advertised at $1,804 per ticket, according to the screenshots on pages 6 and 7 of the complaint, with the second showing a button for Checkout. The price stays the same, quoted per ticket and displayed as $1,804, the complaint claims, as the consumer is required to login or create an account.
Only after the computer customer logs in or creates an account is the total of $4,470.64 displayed, the complaint claims. According to the screenshots from the mobile app, the consumer still does not see the total price when asked to click the Place Order button.
Only on the next screen is the total displayed, and even then, no additional charges are itemized. The consumer may click on a Show Pricing Details link, but at this point, the complaint contends, the consumer has become invested in the transaction through the time and effort spent on it.
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Consumer
Most Recent Case Event
Vivid Seats Hiding of Additional Charges California Complaint
May 27, 2022
Vivid Seats, LLC sells tickets to concerts, sports events, and other live shows, but the complaint for this class action alleges that it encourages people to buy by “advertising artificially low ticket prices while hiding the amount of fees it charges for each sale.” The complaint claims that only at checkout do consumers find out what they really have to pay for the tickets.
Vivid Seats Hiding of Additional Charges California ComplaintCase Event History
Vivid Seats Hiding of Additional Charges California Complaint
May 27, 2022
Vivid Seats, LLC sells tickets to concerts, sports events, and other live shows, but the complaint for this class action alleges that it encourages people to buy by “advertising artificially low ticket prices while hiding the amount of fees it charges for each sale.” The complaint claims that only at checkout do consumers find out what they really have to pay for the tickets.
Vivid Seats Hiding of Additional Charges California Complaint