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Choice Magazine has lodged a complaint against two ticket resale sites, including one owned by Ticketmaster Australasia, alleging misleading and deceptive conduct.
The complaint to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) names the Swiss reseller Viagogo, and the Australian site Ticketmaster Resale.
Both sites claim to offer fans a means of disposing of unwanted tickets to music and sporting events.
But they are also used by scalpers to offer tickets to sold-out events at hugely inflated prices.
"We found Ticketmaster Resale listed VIP tickets to Justin Bieber's concert at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane for $2,555, a 374 per cent mark up on the face value of $539," Choice Magazine spokesman Tom Godfrey told the ABC.
The ABC has confirmed Frontier Touring, which is promoting Midnight Oil's 2017 reunion tour, is also preparing a submission to the ACCC focusing on what it called "misleading sales tactics and language" used by some resale sites.
Last week, Midnight Oil fans were outraged when the band's tour sold out on Ticketmaster in minutes — only for those tickets to appear soon after on resale sites at hugely inflated prices.
Angry ticket holders turned away
They were even angrier when one of those sites was Ticketmaster's subsidiary, Ticketmaster Resale, leading some fans to accuse the company itself of scalping.
Apart from high prices, the Choice Magazine investigation found purchasing tickets through Ticketmaster Resale could leave consumers holding a cancelled ticket or hit with a large fine.
Industry insiders have told the ABC the problem has got worse over the past year — to the point that venues are putting on extra staff to deal with angry fans who have been turned away from events with fake tickets bought online.
The site Viagogo advertises itself as an official seller — and said it offers consumer protection.
Tom Godfrey said both claims were questionable at best.
"We've caught out Viagogo advertising one price and then dripping in unavoidable fees and charges at the checkout. Which means you can't redeem the advertised price," he said.
"We've also found them advertising the cheapest tickets available, when in fact they're not the cheapest tickets available.
"It's illegal and it needs to be stamped out."
Calls for scalping laws to be extended
Different Australian states have different scalping laws.
Even those that do exist are extremely limited in scope.
Queensland's are perhaps the strongest — where both buyers and sellers of scalped tickets can face fines.
But the laws only apply to Stadiums Queensland venues.
New South Wales prohibits scalping around the SCG, the Sydney Football Stadium, and the Olympic Precinct, but not online.
In Victoria, it is illegal to sell tickets to the AFL Grand Final for more than face value — but the law does not apply to major music events.
David Langsam is Melbourne based music writer and critic who said it was time that law was extended — especially at concerts being held at state-owned venues like the Myer Music Bowl.
"We've protected 100,000 people buying tickets for the Grand Final, but we can't protect perhaps a million people who want to go to a range of different concerts, from Midnight Oil, to the Rolling Stone, Nick Cave, Siouxsie and the Banshees — whoever's around," he said.
A spokesman for Victoria's Major Events Minister John Eren told the ABC the State Government it was considering doing exactly that.
The ABC is awaiting a response from Ticketmaster Resale.
Topics: arts-and-entertainment, music, bands-and-artists, activism-and-lobbying, government-and-politics, business-economics-and-finance, consumer-protection, melbourne-3000, australia