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Vivid Seats to pay $7.5m in refund settlement deal

Vivid Seats will pay $7.5m in a proposed settlement deal after ticket buyers alleged it failed to issue full refunds for shows cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The proposed class of purchasers claims the ticket reseller retroactively went back on its 100 per cent guarantee after events were cancelled in the wake of the pandemic.

The ticket buyers filed the proposed class action last April on behalf of Vivid Seats customers who bought tickets through the company’s online ticket exchange and did not receive refunds.

The suit included claims of breach of contract, unjust enrichment, negligent misrepresentation and numerous state consumer statutes over Vivid Seats’ failure to provide refunds.

Under the proposed settlement, Vivid Seats will pay $7.5m to a common fund that will be used to pay back people who did not receive refunds and will also extend credits to customers through December 31, 2022, according to the motion filed by plaintiffs.

“Absent this settlement, this litigation would be hotly litigated, extraordinarily costly, time-consuming and ultimately reduce the likelihood that a mutually beneficial resolution could be reached moving forward,” the motion states, according to Law360.

Vivid Seats maintains that it is not liable for damages resulting from the alleged failures to pay out refunds, according to the motion. The firm also reserves the right to file a motion to force arbitration on an individual basis and to dismiss the suit.

In general, the motion states that the amount that each member of the settlement class will receive will be equal to the price they paid for the ticket to the cancelled event.

Vivid Seats also agreed to extend the expiration date on credits that were given to ticket buyers whose events were cancelled or postponed to the end of 2022.

The plaintiffs are also seeking service awards of no more than $2,500 for each class representative and no more than $2.5m in attorney fees and costs for class counsel.

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