Ticketmaster Settlement Called “New Scam On Top Of Old One”
Settlement of the multi-million class action against Live Nation's Ticketmaster for excessive fees, is drawing strong criticism. Instead of cash, a complex bundle of 17 restricted-use coupons are being deposited into millions of accounts. "Given the new competition that Ticketmaster faces in ticket sales, this is no penalty," wrote the San Diego Union Editorial Board. "It’s a marketing opportunity, a new scam on top of the old one."
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Celebrity Access shares the Ticketmaster settlement basics:
Ticketmaster is preparing to make good on the settlement of a class action lawsuit that affects more than 50 million people.
According to Billboard, the lawsuit, Schlesinger v. Ticketmaster, was brought against the ticketing giant in 2003, claiming that Ticketmaster was imposing unfair fees for items such as order processing and shipping costs.
If you are one of the 50 million class members affected by the suit, IE, you bought a ticket from the company's website between Oct. 21, 1999, through Feb. 27, 2013, you will be eligible to receive a code worth good for a $2.25 on a future ticket purchase. If you purchased multiple tickets in that time frame, you'll be eligible for multiple codes, one for each covered transaction up to a limit of 17.
If you had UPS deliver a ticket from Ticketmaster during the class period, you will be eligible for one discount code per transaction that will take $5.00 off a future UPS charge.
As well, the codes will not be usable at all concerts and are instead limited to specific events stipulated by Ticketmaster.
An email sent to ticket buyers said that the codes will be "be placed in your Ticketmaster.com account and will be available for your use starting on or around June 18, 2016." Discount Codes must be used on or before June 18, 2020 or they will expire, the company said.
What a joke. Bad enough it is to buy more tickets but we don’t even get to pick how to use them. Nothing on the list is something I want to go to.
It blows! I couldn’t even get the codes to work. Most of the shows are crap. An actual credit would have been better.
There a bunch of crooks yeah you Ticketmaster Outrageous service charges.. This is not the way to refund you customers! Scammers…
Every show I looked at on 20 pages all said Vouchers sold out. ANOTHER TICKETMASTER RIP OFF
Contrary to some media reports, No, I did not receive any email alerting me to these free vouchers and I’m sure many others didn’t either. Just happened to hear about it on the news, so I checked my account and saw the vouchers. Secondly, vouchers wouldn’t work. Spent hours getting “error” message and then the event sold out. Firm claims the error message was because they were sold out. Wrong. Again, I spent hours trying to use the voucher before they were sold out only to get error messages. Then the next day the event was sold out. You have better chances winning tickets on a radio station then trying to use all 17 vouchers, let alone 1 voucher. Not to mention the hours of time (time=money) spent trying to use them with no success and having to periodically check at random times to see if they added events. Only after the event list closed did they come up with a brilliant idea to notify you by email when new events come up, which would have been nice to have done from the beginning. The vouchers are good until 2018 but I highly doubt they will add many new events if any considering they already paid out the max they owe in the suit. The whole thing is a joke. I’m sure some people were somehow able to buy multiple tickets (just like brokers are able to do on sold out events) and others didn’t get any. Furthermore, you can resell the “free” tickets so I’m sure many are buying them up just to resell them and those of us who actually want to see a show have to travel out of state to see a show you don’t care much about, and even those are now sold out. This is no penalty for Ticketmaster and no win for consumers. Btw contrary to misleading information in the beginning, it’s not for any event, only approved events, and it’s not for any general admission ticket because even shows who still have general admission seats left are not letting you use your voucher. Seems like they only allotted a certain number of general admission seats per event for the vouchers. Total joke.
The Above Screen Capture if From TODAY (FEB 21st 2017) it states the last UPDATE was on June 21st 2016 @ 1:35 AM EDT!
The Below Text is from the Curt Schlesinger et al. v. Ticketmaster page. Does that mean that the statements below are not true?
I believe so… according to the date on the ticket page They are smoke and mirrors.
PREVIOUS UPDATES
UPDATE JUNE 30 3:00 PM EDT Today, we are releasing an additional $5M worth of eligible tickets for ticket voucher redemption, tripling the first year obligation of the settlement agreement.
We understand that there has been confusion about the ticket voucher redemption process. Please know that we take your feedback seriously and are working continuously to improve the online experience. For frequently asked questions, click here.
UPDATE JUNE 24 2:00 PM EDT Over the course of this week, over $10m worth of ticket vouchers have been redeemed and the eligible events have been closed. Please check back periodically for event listings as we anticipate making additional inventory available next week.
Please note, the Discount Code and UPS Discount Code vouchers can still be used on primary tickets on any event on Ticketmaster.com. Log in to your account to view your vouchers and search for events.
UPDATE JUNE 23 10:00 PM EDT The eligible event list below has been updated with new tickets available for ticket voucher redemption subject to availability under the terms of the settlement. For frequently asked questions, click here.
UPDATE JUNE 22 11:30 PM EDT At this time, nearly $5m worth of eligible ticket vouchers have been redeemed and the first wave of eligible events has been closed. Given the overwhelming interest, Ticketmaster is adding another $5m worth of eligible tickets so more class members can redeem ticket vouchers. Please check back tomorrow for additional information.
UPDATE JUNE 21 1:35 AM EDT In 2003, the Schlesinger v. Ticketmaster class action lawsuit was filed alleging that Ticketmaster failed to fully disclose to consumers all aspects of its UPS and Order Processing Fees. While vigorously defending the lawsuit, Ticketmaster settled the case in 2013, with the court granting final approval of the settlement in February 2015. The settlement class includes all consumers who transacted on Ticketmaster.com from 1999-2013.
Go to the Voucher Ticket event page…http://concerts.livenation.com/microsite/settlement
See for yourself! the last update was the first and only update June 21st 2016.
I have had my doubts about the 17 Free ticket vouchers I received on 06-21-2016. I feel they are worthless in the respect that
I feel I will never get to use them due to there never being any actual events made available. I also feel they are nothing but a
a digital code that is and never will be anything but a promissary note for ticketmaster to fulfill a court settlement without actually
paying out of there pocket. I have never seen a single event available to myself and I live in the greater los angeles area which
has a massive number of events on a daily basis. I never have seen a single list of events on the website and when i go to my page
with the vouchers and click the link to the events page it automatically take me back to the same page of my vouchers. I also noticed
that the ticket page for the vouchers has NOT been updated since JUNE 1st 2016 1:35 AM EDT? I am extremely frustrated and angry
every time I log into my account and see the vouchers, its a disappointment! I think that justice has failed for the consumer……..