As numerous Australian state governments urge punters to steer clear of purchasing tickets from Viagogo, the controversial ticket reseller company is being taken to court by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC).
As news.com.au reports, the ACCC are alleging that Viagogo has breached Australian Consumer Law by making false or misleading representations, as well as engaging in misleading conduct with the price of tickets.
Just this year, tickets to Aussie shows by acts such as Adele and Jerry Seinfeld were being resold on Viagogo for more than triple the original cost price.
In May, some tickets to Ed Sheeran’s 2018 national tour were being listed on the website for over $3500; the most expensive tickets for the concerts were originally priced at $164.90.
“We allege that Viagogo failed to disclose significant and unavoidable fees upfront in the ticket price, including a 27.6 per cent booking fee for most events and a handling fee,” ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said.
The ACCC also claims Viagogo misled consumers by claiming tickets to some shows being resold on its website were almost all snatched up, despite there being a number of tickets still up for grabs provided by the official ticketing outlet.
The ACCC alleges that is has received 473 queries about Viagogo from Aussie consumers.
Meanwhile, Qld Attorney-General and Minister For Justice, Yvette D’Ath, said in a statement yesterday that the Queensland Office of Fair Trading (QOFT) has received 49 complaints about Viagogo, with 43 coming in the last year.
"The number of complaints received and the failure of Viagogo to attempt to resolve them is very concerning," D’Ath said.
"Viagogo’s conduct to date shows they have little interest in resolving consumer complaints and are unwilling to act in good faith if something goes wrong.
"We expect overseas online businesses to operate in a transparent manner and deal promptly with legitimate consumer complaints.
"Until such time as Viagogo improves its business practices, I urge consumers to think twice before dealing with them."
It follows comments made by NSW Minister for Better Regulation, Matt Kean, who slammed Viagogo’s "unfair and unsatisfactory business and services".
"Complaints to date have included delayed delivery, events being cancelled, heavily marked-up prices, hidden fees, and failure to provide refunds," Kean said.
"With most complaints relating to two or more tickets, Fair Trading has estimated around 600 consumers have been ripped off at a cost of almost $130,000.
"This is simply not good enough, when consumers buy a product they rightly expect to get what they pay for."
WA Acting Commissioner for Consumer Protection, David Hillyard, also condemned the Swiss-based company.
"You think you're buying genuine tickets, you're often paying highly inflated prices and as we're finding, you're getting poorer and poorer service and you can't deal with those people to get refunds," Hillyard said.
"So it's a warning to people to start looking for the originating venues, don't go to the secondary market, it is just fraught with danger."
The Music has contacted Viagogo for comment.
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