The Canada’s Competition Bureau has handed StubHub a hefty fine.
After a lengthy investigation, the Bureau found that the ticket reseller was providing “misleading pricing claims” for entertainment and sporting events on its website.
Today, we reached an agreement with StubHub, an online ticket resale company, requiring it to pay a $1.3M penalty & take action to correct misleading ads that promoted unattainable prices for entertainment & sporting event tickets to Canadians. 🎫https://t.co/0E719jgIcj pic.twitter.com/RcdcIWaVHG
— Competition Bureau (@CompBureau) February 13, 2020
“A Bureau investigation determined that StubHub advertised tickets at unattainable prices on its websites, mobile apps and in promotional emails to Canadians,” said a release.
“The Bureau found that consumers could not buy tickets at advertised prices because StubHub charged consumers mandatory fees in addition to the prices advertised.”
Unless customers clicked through the ticket-buying process, they wouldn’t see extra fees and costs until the very end.
Although there were optional filters to show fees from the beginning, the Bureau determined that it didn’t prevent the initially advertised prices from being misleading.
“Prices advertised online for event tickets should reflect the true cost of buying those tickets,” said Matthew Boswell, commissioner of competition.
StubHub has said it will now ensure ticket prices for events in Canada include all mandatory fees from the beginning of the purchasing process.
The Bureau acknowledged that StubHub voluntarily cooperated in the investigation and resolution of the matter.
