Stubhub hit with legal threat over ‘misleading’ ticket sales
Stubhub is facing legal action from the competition regulator over claims the ticket reseller misled customers.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched a wider crackdown on the secondary ticket market amid concerns many websites are a hotbed for ticket touts.
But the regulator said it was concerned that Stubhub was not complying with its previous commitments and highlighted new issues, including using misleading messages about ticket availability.
The site has also been accused of failing to adequately warn people that tickets may not get them into an event and failing to ensure people know exactly where they will sit in a venue.
The watchdog said it will consider taking action through the courts if Stubhub does not make changes to its website swiftly.
Fellow ticketing firm Viagogo recently underwent a review by Deloitte, and no concerns were raised over its compliance with a previous court order. However, the CMA said it will continue to monitor Viagogo and take action where necessary.
Separately, the watchdog is investigating Ebay’s planned $4bn (£3bn) sale of Stubhub to Viagogo.
Andrea Coscelli, CMA chief executive, said the issues in Stubhub’s platform were “unacceptable” given the regulator’s previous warnings.
“We have demanded swift action to resolve these problems and are pleased that Stubhub has said it will make changes in response,” she said.
“We will closely monitor the firm’s efforts and, if it does not quickly implement changes that satisfy us, we will take further action — potentially through the courts.”
Wayne Grierson, regional manager at Stubhub UK, said: “Stubhub UK has complied with everything that the CMA requested following their investigation into the online secondary ticketing sector in 2018. Our compliance with our undertakings was confirmed through a compliance audit in 2019.
“We remain in open dialogue with the CMA to address both these new asks and any remaining valid concerns about disclosure of information on our site. We are working closely to resolve these as quickly as possible, and in the best interest of our customers, the fans.”