Fraud: watchdog
Viagogo site home to
Online ticket reseller Viagogo will need to change how it sells tickets if the Commerce Commission gets its way.
Lawyers representing the commission described Swiss-based Viagogo as a ‘‘marketplace for scalpers and fraudsters’’ in their submission to the High Court at Auckland yesterday.
The watchdog was seeking an injunction to prohibit the website from making misleading claims.
A lawyer for the commission, Nicholas Flanagan, said the company was misleading New Zealand consumers about ticket availability, final fees and consumer guarantees.
However, in the middle of proceedings, the two sides reached a possible agreement that could include changes to how the website was worded, as well as a more upfront approach to how fees were added.
Aaron Lloyd, the lawyer representing Viagogo, said he would need to consult with his clients overseas before a binding agreement could be reached.
Earlier in the day the commission presented evidence of what it claimed were Viagogo’s misrepresentations.
It included affidavits from New Zealanders who had purchased tickets via Viagogo only to find the tickets had been sold multiple times. Other customers who bought tickets via the site discovered they had been charged more than they had agreed to.
Flanagan said the commission had received almost 600 complaints against Viagogo for overpriced, invalid or fraudulent tickets.
The commission claimed Viagogo breached the Fair Trading Act by pressuring consumers into buying tickets with countdown clocks and representations of scarcity and high interest.
Flanagan also said the company’s written guarantee of valid tickets couldn’t be fulfilled by the very nature of the marketplace.
Lloyd challenged the commission’s arguments against Viagogo, describing Flanagan’s case as misleading.
‘‘No-one thinks a guarantee is an absolute promise,’’ Lloyd said. He argued that the company’s guarantee contained nuances that covered the issues before the court.
Lloyd also questioned whether there was any way an interim order could actually be enforced as the company had no offices in New Zealand. He said there were genuine questions about whether the New Zealand justice system had jurisdiction over the company’s actions.
Other countries, including Switzerland, Germany, France, Spain, Britain and Australia have brought similar cases against the company. It has been fined in Italy and sued by international soccer agency Fifa.
Evidence was presented by Flanagan that scalpers were encouraged to target events such as the 2017 British and Irish Lions rugby tour, with emails sent out to potential sellers alerting them to the on-sell potential of the matches.
Subsequent checks by New Zealand Rugby at stadium gates found hundreds of spectators with invalid or fraudulent tickets that had been purchased via Viagogo.
Tickets to All Blacks games came under the Major Events Management Act. It was illegal to sell the tickets to national rugby games for higher than their face value.
Justice Patricia Courtney did not give a time frame for when her ruling would be made.