Ticketmaster Australia was forced to postpone the general on-sale for the event at Melbourne’s Albert Park by 24 hours due to “third-party issues”. Some customers also claim that they overpaid for tickets to the race weekend which is set to take place from March 13 to 16, 2025.
Australian law firm Gordon Legal stated that it was undertaking an investigation into allegations of deceptive, misleading or unconscionable conduct which may have inflated the price of tickets.
“We have been contacted by customers who are concerned that they have paid more than they should have for event tickets,” said James Naughton, class actions partner at Gordon Legal.
“We are investigating their concerns, including how ‘dynamic pricing’ is influencing the cost of tickets in Australia.
“The focus of our investigation relates to whether any laws designed to protect consumers have been breached.”
The firm expects the investigation to take several months to complete.
It comes following a report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that highlighted additional costs attributed to fees when purchasing through Ticketmaster.
The report claimed that prices were increased by up to A$40 (£20/$26/€25).
Live Nation has defended its use of dynamic pricing, stating that it is fully legal.
“Ticketmaster complies fully with Australian Consumer Law by incorporating per ticket or percentage fees into the price of the ticket paid by fans, and prominently disclosing any optional or transaction level fees,” read a Live Nation statement.
“These fees support essential services, including tech development and innovation, customer service, security and compliance, all of which require significant investment.”
The Australian Grand Prix Corporation has used dynamic pricing for the past two years.
The group’s chief executive Travis Audl says that the same model will be used as last year.
The investigation also comes after plans were released by the Australian government for a nationwide clampdown on what it deems to be unfair trading practices.