Ticketmaster pays up in ticket-fee settlement
USA Today Network Cameron Knight, The Cincinnati Enquirer 5:04 p.m. EDT June 20, 2016
Sunday, Ticketmaster alerted its customers it would be issuing vouchers in response to a class action lawsuit settlement.(Photo: AP)
Eddie Vedder must be smiling: Ticketmaster[1] is settling[2] a decades-old legal battle over ticket fees.
On Sunday, Ticketmaster alerted its customers it would be issuing vouchers in response to a class action lawsuit settlement.
Any customer who purchased a ticket through Ticketmaster's website between Oct. 21, 1999 and Feb. 27, 2013 will receive online codes for discounts on ticket purchases, discounts on ticket shipping and vouchers for tickets.
The class action suit filed in 2003 claimed that Ticketmaster, purchased by Live Nation in 2009, violated California law by charging order-processing fees that overstated the cost of processing orders, along with fees on UPS-handled tickets that exceeded delivery charges.
These fees prompted Pearl Jam to boycott Ticketmaster-associated venues in the mid-90s and attempt to organize an alternative tour.
"We got to see up close what it was like to be crushed by a huge corporate giant. That was extremely interesting, educational and disappointing," Vedder, the band's lead singer, said in a Chicago Tribune interview[3]. "The surcharge on a ticket was just one more aspect of being a band we wanted to handle in a responsible way."
Ticketmaster and Live Nation have never admitted any wrongdoing in connection with the fees or the class action lawsuit.
Billboard Magazine reported that about 50 million Ticketmaster customers will receive discount codes, UPS codes and ticket codes as a result of the settlement, which legal experts say will cost the company $397 million.
If you are one of those customers, you can expect the following:
- One $2.25 discount code for future Ticketmaster purchases for each transaction made between Oct. 21, 1999 and Feb. 27, 2013.
- One $5 discount code for UPS shipping for each transaction made with UPS shipping during that time period.
- One ticket code good for two tickets through Ticketmaster to a future event for each transaction made during that time period.
There is a 17-code maximum in each category per customer. All the discount and ticket codes must be redeemed within four years.
Vedder could not be reached for comment.
Follow Cameron Knight on Twitter: @ckpj99[4]
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/28JXWtZ
References
- ^ Ticketmaster (rssfeeds.usatoday.com)
- ^ is settling (cin.ci)
- ^ Chicago Tribune interview (articles.chicagotribune.com)
- ^ @ckpj99 (twitter.com)