Once Again, Ticketmaster Alleged To Be Engaged In Deceptive Business Practices
When tickets for Leonard Cohen’s new tour went on sale at 10:00 a.m. on March 9, 2009, the tickets were listed on ticketmaster.com as being sold out within minutes. Mysteriously, at that same exact time and day, fans were told they could purchase tickets at a TicketExchange, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ticketmaster. Not surprisingly, TicketExchange was offering the very same Leonard Cohen tickets for hundreds or thousands of dollars more than the face value of the tickets. Moreover, at that same time, TicketsNow -- also a wholly owned subsidiary of Ticketmaster -- was also selling Leonard Cohen tickets for hundreds of dollars more.
What some Leonard Cohen fans may not have known was that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Ticketmaster in California by the firm of Meiselman, Denlea, Packman, Carton & Eberz P.C., alleging that Ticketmaster has engaged in deceptive business practices by redirecting consumers to TicketsNow.com, a website which specializes in the secondary, resale market for tickets. The class action complaint alleges that consumers do not know that TicketsNow.com is a fully owned subsidiary of Ticketmaster, and any tickets purchased on TicketsNow.com are essentially being purchased from Ticketmaster itself, albeit at an obscene mark-up.
Ticketmaster’s conduct in the sale of the Leonard Cohen tickets has not only enraged fans, it has also sparked a comment about Ticketmaster’s business practices from United States Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY). “This seems to be the kind of sleight of hand we have come to expect from Ticketmaster and it cannot be allowed to continue.” The Senator went on to state that, “Time and again, Ticketmaster appears to be going out of its way to prevent concertgoers from paying face value for tickets.”
The fact that ticketmaster.com sold out of tickets at the same time that Leonard Cohen tickets were being made available on TicketExchange raises serious questions about Ticketmaster’s business practices and whether it engaged it deliberate and intentional deceptive business practices.
If you were forced to purchase one or more Leonard Cohen tickets through TicketExchange at prices above the face value of the tickets because you were barred or redirected from purchasing tickets at ticketmaster.com, please contact us to discuss your legal options.