Red Sox tickets were full of added fees, say buyers who now demand compensation in court.
Plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit last week against the Boston Red Sox and Fenway Sports Group Holdings in Massachusetts federal court over “per-ticket” and “order” fees added at the last second before purchase.
This increase in price gives rise to claims of consumer-protection violations, the suit argues. The practice is called “drip pricing” and is the subject of dozens of other lawsuits against companies that sell tickets, like Fandango and Ticketmaster and sports teams like the Washington Nationals.
“Sellers like the Red Sox use junk fees because they lead buyers to pay higher prices,” the lawsuit says.
“Studies have found, among other things, that purchasers underestimate the total price of a given product or service when the seller splits out a portion of the price as junk fees (even if the base price plus the junk fees are presented simultaneously).
“Studies have also found that buyers are even more likely to underestimate the total price when the font size of the junk fee is smaller than that of the base price.”
A countdown to when the ticket will no longer be available only increases the pressure on consumers to accept the fees or causes them to not notice them at all, the suit says.
The District of Columbia Attorney General’s Office has taken action against StubHub, the Nebraska AG has gone after Hilton and the Connecticut AG has targeted Altice for these fees. Private lawyers have followed suit by finding plaintiffs to allege they were financially harmed by misleading sales tactics.
“It does not cost the Red Sox more to issue a ticket to a game against the Yankees than to a game against the Brewers, yet the Red Sox charged different ‘Per-Ticket Fees’ depending on that factor (and others),” the suit says.
“Indeed, the ‘Per-Ticket Fees’ could vary between games for the very same seat in Fenway Park. Likewise, it does not cost the Red Sox $7 to process each electronic ticket order.”
Bradley Oppenheimer and other lawyers at Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick represent the plaintiffs, along with attorneys from Pak Heinz.
