wahyinghung | 02-09-2009 10:51 PM | Ticketmaster faces Canadian class-action lawsuit over ticketsnow.com Ticketmaster Canada is facing a $500-million class-action suit from consumers who allege tickets are being diverted away from ticketmaster.ca to be sold on Ticketmaster's more expensive ticket-brokering site, ticketsnow.com.
The lawsuit, launched in Toronto today, contends that the selling of tickets on ticketsnow.com contravenes Ontario's anti-scalping legislation. It also alleges that fees and surcharges levied by Ticketmaster violate Ontario laws.
Henryk Krajewski, a Toronto resident who bought two concert tickets for $533.65 (including service charges) is the initiating plaintiff. His tickets would have cost him $133 on ticketmaster.ca if they had been available. Instead, Ticketmaster's website directed him to ticketsnow.com.
"The mere fact that Ticketmaster has a financial interest in both retail and premium ticket sales leads to an obvious question about the process by which those tickets are sold to members of the public and how it works," said Jay Strosberg of Toronto's Sutts Strosberg LLP, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiff. Vancouver's Branch McMaster is also on the file.
Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba have anti-scalping laws. B.C. does not.
The suit is filed on behalf of all people who bought tickets for an event in Ontario from Ticketmaster or ticketsnow.com from Feb. 9, 2007 to present.
Ticketmaster did not respond immediately to a request for comment. http://www.theprovince.com/news/story.html?id=1270364 |