CMA takes legal action against Viagogo

The homepage of the official website for Viagogo - the online ticket marketplace for ticket resale, on 8th January 2018.

The Competition and Markets Authority has taken legal action against ticket seller Viagogo.

The competition watchdog has said the ticket sale website is breaching consumer protection law and consistently failing to change their practices.

“People who buy tickets on websites like Viagogo must be given all the information they are entitled to. It’s imperative they know key facts, including what seat they will get and whether there is a risk they might not actually get into the event, before parting with their hard-earned money,” said Andrea Coscelli, the CMA’s Chief Executive Officer.

“This applies to Viagogo as much as it does to any other secondary ticketing website. Unfortunately, while other businesses have agreed to overhaul their sites to ensure they respect the law, Viagogo has not. We will now be pursuing action through the courts to ensure that they comply with the law.”

Viagogo is a controversial platform that has been previously criticized.

The UK Trading Standards launched an investigation into the company earlier this year, with the digital minister Margot James saying that “they are the worst”.

The CMA said the breaches to the law meant that customers would face several risks including being given misleading information about the availability and popularity of tickets, not being informed which seat in the venue they will get or not being told if there is a risk that they will be turned away at the door.

The group has been criticised by the music industry, fans and ministers, who have called for a boycott on the website.

This latest attack to the website comes less than a week before Viagogo’s senior executives will appear before the digital, culture, media and sport select committee.

Ticketmaster UK recently shut its resale websites, which left Viagogo and StubHub as the only major sites in the ticket resale market.

 

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Safiya focuses on business and political stories for UK Investor Magazine. Her interests include international development, travel and politics.