Features
Viagogo And UK Competition And Markets Authority Settle In Court
– Viagogo.co.uk
The website will need to undergo a few changes in order to comply with a court order
A London court order secured by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and agreed to by Viagogo, forces the ticket reseller to comply with a set of changes to its business practices.
The High Court of London made it legally binding for Viagogo to comply with
– telling purchasers of tickets if there is a risk that they will be turned away at the door
– informing customers which seat in the venue they will get
– providing information about who is selling the ticket, so people can benefit from enhanced legal rights when buying from a business
– not giving misleading information about the availability and popularity of tickets – which had the potential to lead to customers being rushed into making a buying decision or making the wrong choice
– making it easy for people to get their money back under Viagogo’s guarantee when things go wrong
– preventing the sale of tickets a seller does not own and may not be able to supply
The order must be complied with by mid-January. Viagogo agreed to address all of the CMA’s concerns, without the need for a trial. The order is legally binding and enforceable by the court.
The CMA launched legal proceedings in August over concerns that Viagogo was breaking consumer protection law.
Viagogo welcomes the settlement. “The agreement with the CMA will enable buyers and sellers to exchange tickets with more transparency and additional information, such as face value, will be displayed on the website. It reflects a desire to ensure that the consumer has as much information as possible before making their purchase decision,” a company statement reads.
A Viagogo spokesperson added: “We are pleased that we have been able to work closely with the CMA to come to an agreement that provides even greater transparency to consumers.”
The UK’s anti-secondary ticketing campaign group FanFair Alliance issued the following statement: “While the UK’s ticket resale market undergoes a long-awaited transformation, Viagogo has effectively become a rogue operator. That it’s required a court order to force their compliance with existing legislation is nothing short of extraordinary. Effectively, it means Viagogo have been given until mid-January to overhaul their bad practices. If they fail to do that, they should feel the full force of the law.”
Wayne Grierson, managing director at StubHub’s northern EMEA division, said: “As a fan-first marketplace StubHub is delighted that Viagogo has finally been forced to operate in line with industry standards as well as existing legislation. Consumers benefit if all ticketing operators embrace the same rules and standards. We would therefore also like to see greater transparency in the primary ticketing marketing so that fans have all the information they need on the availability of tickets.”