Viagogo has said its customers who claim to have been misled by the resale firm were just “exceptionally careless,” rather than victims of any deceptive conduct on its part.
The controversial ticketing company defended itself to an Australian court after the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission last year accused Viagogo of breaching Australian consumer rights law by making false or misleading representations, and by engaging in misleading or deceptive conduct.
Viagogo also told the court that its use of the word “official” indicated that it was officially Viagogo, rather than the official ticket agent of an individual show or event.
The Commission’s complaints included the ticketing firm failing to disclose booking fees upfront, as well as for making misleading statements like “less than 1 per cent of tickets remaining”, without explaining that this only referred to Viagogo’s own supply of tickets. The use of the word ‘official’ in Google ads, implying it was an approved primary ticket seller rather than a market place for touts, was also criticised.
According to Australian newspaper the Daily Telegraph, Viagogo’s lawyer Kate Morgan told the court: “Here we have people searching for particular tickets, they are seeing an advertisement that refers to a name they’ve never heard of before and they don’t take care, let alone reasonable care.”
She continued: “They didn’t do a basic check. Not one of them checked the ‘about us’ tab. We say they are not taking reasonable care. They are exceptionally careless.”
Viagogo is also currently facing legal action by government agencies in New Zealand and the UK.
Image: MaxPixel
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