Viagogo accused of ‘unlawful practices’ by FFA

FanFair Alliance has ramped up calls for a price cap on resale tickets after accusing secondary ticketing site Viagogo of “misleading and potentially unlawful practices”.

The UK-based campaign group against industrial-scale ticket touting says it has collated a number of potential offences by Viagogo since the government launched its consultation into the resale market back in January.

It alleges the company has engaged in multiple cases of speculative selling and broken the UK Consumer Rights Act by permitting professional touts to list tickets with non-existent seat numbers and incorrect face values, as well as drip pricing and other misleading practices.

“To continue promoting such exploitative and unlawful practices during the consultation period really takes the biscuit,” says FanFair Alliance’s campaign manager Adam Webb. “It reiterates why we urgently need a price cap to stop this ongoing exploitation of fans, and to allow a fair and consumer-friendly model of ticket resale to flourish.”

Labour MP Sharon Hodgson, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on ticket abuse, describes the findings as “outrageous but completely unsurprising”.

“I will continue to work with FanFair Alliance and the government to end this blatant black market once and for all,” she says.

In a statement to IQ, a spokesperson for Viagogo says: “Viagogo takes its obligations under the law seriously and is fully compliant in the UK and with the CMA order.

“Our policies prohibit speculative listings. Any alleged speculative listing that we identify as being speculative is removed from our platform in line with our policy. Sellers found to be in breach of our policy will be dealt with including permanent suspension from using our platform.

“We remain committed to operating a safe, transparent, and lawful marketplace for fans to buy and sell tickets.”

“Eliminating the incentive to harvest tickets is the right thing to do”

The UK live music industry came out strongly in favour of a price cap on resale tickets ahead of the government’s consultation deadline at the start of this month. The FanFair Alliance has advocated for a cap of no more than 10% over face value, while bolstering existing legislation to prevent speculative ticketing and fraud, alongside a dedicated approach to enforcement.

LIVE CEO Jon Collins says the latest examples flagged up by the organisation reinforce “the pressing need for swift government action”.

“Eliminating the incentive to harvest tickets is the right thing to do, will reduce distress caused to fans and open up new economic activity,” he says.

Annabella Coldrick, CEO of the Music Managers Forum (MMF), whose members who established the FanFair campaign in 2016, adds that a price cap on ticket resale is “the only way to end these abuses”.

Last week, the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld a complaint by the FanFair Alliance, which challenged the claim made in a podcast advert that “over half the events listed on Viagogo had tickets selling below face value”.

“We considered that the claim, as it would be understood by consumers, had not been substantiated and was therefore misleading,” concluded the ASA.

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