For Immediate Release: For more information contact:
Feb. 11, 2014 Rep. Tracy McCreery at (573) 751-7535
STATEMENT
RE: Ticketmaster settlement
“Attorney General Chris Koster is to be commended for his work on improving ticket sale disclosure. With this settlement, Ticketmaster makes a small step in the right direction by changing their misleading sales practices to notify consumers when purchasing restricted tickets on their website.
“As a legislator and a board member of the Consumers Council of Missouri, I want to make sure that fans purchasing tickets have the information they need to make the best buying decisions. I also want to raise awareness about unfair consumer practices in the ticketing industry.
“Restricted ticketing, which ties the consumer’s ticket to their credit card and ID, makes it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for consumers to transfer or share their tickets. This excludes Missourians who do not have a credit or debit card from even purchasing this type of ticket in the first place.
“In addition, some resale marketplaces, such as Ticketmaster’s TicketExchange, limit how low tickets can be priced, a fact they fail to disclose. Consumers think they’re getting a reasonable deal but in reality, there may be cheaper tickets available on sites that don’t control prices.
“For too long, ticket resellers have taken advantage of unsuspecting consumers and deceived them into believing they are purchasing a ticket from the box office website or official primary ticket seller at face value. These resellers use Internet ads, countdown clocks and other advertising, along with pictures of the venue and descriptions such as ‘official’ tickets, to dupe consumers. It is time for these kinds of practices to change.
“Due to the attorney general’s hard work, this is a victory for ticket sale disclosure, but there is still more that needs to be done to prohibit non-transferable tickets and protect consumer choice. Now is the time to move forward and make sure that consumers fully understand and are protected when purchasing tickets. This week I will file legislation that addresses these issues.”
State Rep. Tracy McCreery
D-St. Louis
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