NZ's Commerce Commission sues Viagogo

New Zealand’s Commerce Commission has announced plans to sue Switzerland-based ticket resale website Viagogo alleging violations of the nation’s Fair Trading Act.

The commission will allege that Viagogo made false or misleading representations about being an “official” seller for events which it was not.

The suit will further argue that Viagogo falsely claimed that tickets were limited or about to sell out, that consumers were guaranteed valid tickets for their event and that the price of tickets excluded GST and various fees from its headline prices.

Viagogo also allegedly included unfair terms in its contract requiring all disputes brought by a consumer to be heard in Swiss courts under Swiss law, but freeing the company to choose to take action against consumers in their own country.

The commission is seeking declarations that Viagogo breached the Fair Trading Act, an injunction restraining it from further breaches and orders for the company to engage in corrective advertising.

The lawsuit will be filed around a year after the ACCC initiated its own legal action in Australia alleging breaches of Australian Consumer Law.

The ACCC is likewise arguing that Viagogo made false or misleading representations regarding the price of tickets by failing to disclose substantial fees (including a 27.6% booking fee for most events and and additional handling fee) and misled consumers about the scarcity of available tickets, and about being an official seller. The case is still before the Federal Court.

Viagogo is also facing court or regulatory action in Switzerland, Germany, France, Spain and the UK, and has been fined in Italy and sued by FIFA.

Commerce Commission Head of Consumer Stuart Wallace said that the commission has received more than 400 complaints about Viagogo since the beginning of 2017, the most of any company.

“We acknowledge that this has been a longstanding investigation, and in large measure that is because of the complexity of pursuing a case against an online trader based offshore. We are pleased to have progressed matters to the point where we are now able to launch proceedings,” he said.

Image credit: ©BillionPhotos.com/Dollar Photo Club

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