Ticketmaster to pay $4.5 million in misleading price investigation

OTTAWA — The Competition Bureau says Ticketmaster will pay $4.5 million in penalties and associated costs to settle a case investigating misleading pricing claims for its online ticket sales.

The bureau says Ticketmaster L.L.C., TNow Entertainment Group Inc. and Ticketmaster Canada LP will pay a $4-million penalty and $500,000 for the bureau’s investigation costs.

The companies will also create a compliance program as part of a consent agreement.

The news comes after the bureau found Ticketmaster’s advertised prices did not reflect the true cost to the consumer as the online ticket service added mandatory fees later in the purchasing process that often added more than 20 per cent to the cost and in some cases over 65 per cent.

The bureau found the initial prices misleading despite consumers seeing the additional fees before completing their transaction.

Commissioner of Competition Matthew Boswell says in a statement that Canadians should be able to trust that they will pay the advertised prices when purchasing tickets online, and it expects all ticket vendors to note this case and review their marketing.

The Canadian Press