Peter Garrett Supports Consumer Group’s Attack On Ticket Reselling Sites
"Time to act."
Pressure surrounding the ongoing ticket scalping debate in Australia has hit a new high, as leading consumer advocacy group Choice Magazine accuses a number of resale outlets for misleading, unethical and “illegal” practices.
As ABC reports, the not for profit consumer organisation has lodged a complaint to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission against Ticketmaster Resale and Viagogo, claiming the ticket vendors are operating under misleading guidelines.
After warning Midnight Oil fans off scalpers last week, Peter Garrett has now thrown his support behind the report through a series of tweets – in one of which he urges “ACCC and/or Fair Trading Departments to enforce the Trade Practices Act et al to stop ViaGoGo’s deceptive and misleading conduct.”
Garrett also said the use of bots should be illegal and a cap should be placed on the premium a ticket can be resold for, which already applies to some major sports events like the AFL Grand Final.
The complaint follows Choice's investigation into the country’s secondary ticket market, taking aim at lead offenders while shining a light on fraudulent tickets making their way through official avenues.
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The report accuses Viagogo of illegal drip pricing tactics, which they claim sees an advertised price skyrocket through additional fees throughout the checkout process.
With Adele and Justin Bieber currently touring the country, Choice’s investigation follows The Music’s in-depth look into the issue earlier this year.
Aussie music promoter/Frontier Touring boss Michael Gudinski – who is currently touring Justin Bieber and booked the Midnight Oil run – told The Music the misleading tactics used by some secondary sites can be “incredibly confusing and frustrating for a lot of fans.”
“A considerable number of people aren’t aware that they’re buying from a secondary market site and there have been countless times these people have purchased tickets that are not genuine or vastly inflated when they could have still purchase authorised tickets at the original artist set price,” Gudinski said.
Ticketmaster have previously defended their platform to us, stating:
“Ticketmaster Resale provides a platform for fans to sell unwanted tickets and a safe purchase option for events. Ticketing marketplaces are dynamic and prices change in line with demand. Ticket holders, not Ticketmaster Resale, control the inventory and the price of the tickets they list. With high profile events, tickets are sometimes listed at prices higher than the face value.”
Music Glue CEO Mark Meharry described the issue as “vast, complex, deep routed, highly nuanced”, telling The Music “we are allowing billions to be syphoned out of the industry” and “we risk making culture elite, with only the rich being able to afford to go to gigs” if nothing is done.
Go Choice! Time to act. Ticketmaster Resale, Viagogo accused of misleading fans chasing resold tickets https://t.co/p6CS30yqiM via @abcnews
— Peter Garrett (@pgarrett) March 8, 2017
So what should happen? 1. Change the law to make it a criminal offense to use ‘bots’ to buy tickets (eg: https://t.co/O7WPORxUyn)
— Peter Garrett (@pgarrett) March 8, 2017
2.Change the law to place cap on the premium anybody can seek to charge on a resold concert ticket - already applies to some sports events.
— Peter Garrett (@pgarrett) March 8, 2017
3. Get the ACCC and/or Fair Trading Departments to enforce the Trade Practices Act et al to stop ViaGoGo’s deceptive and misleading conduct.
— Peter Garrett (@pgarrett) March 8, 2017
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