Complaint Review: Ticketmaster - Los Angeles California

I purchased tickets on the web for a local Northern California concert. I started at Ticketmaster.com with the venue clearly presented. After selecting some options at Ticketmaster.com, I was automatically sent to livenation.com to continue the process.

The ticket purchase forms at livenation.com/checkout/order include an option for $7.00 per ticket insurance. Unlike most such options where a box is either checked or not by the buyer, this option has two separate boxes, yes, and no.

Neither is checked by default. I checked "No". After submitting my purchase form, it was rejected. There was no explanation of why, and no way back. One has to use the navigate back option on one's browser, then refresh the page. I did so. Back on the ticket purchase page, one has to re-select the credit card. I did so and resubmitted. Upon re-submittal, the form went through, and the purchase was approved. (Perhaps I had selected the wrong Visa Card type the first time. They listed more than one.). There was an option to
print a receipt. I did so.

I then went to my email to look for the online tickets. There they were. But so was an emailed receipt for the insurance coverage at $14.00 for two tickets. I had not selected the coverage, neither the first time through, nor the second time.

Upon reviewing the site, I found they have a slick arrangement. If you have to move back in the browser to correct any problems with the purchase, it resets the insurance option back to neither box being checked. You may not notice this, since it is below the main part of the form. Again, neither box is checked, yet if you submit with that configuration, it doesn't reject the submittal, it processes it as if you selected the insurance. And on the final receipt that you can print, the insurance is not listed among the items purchased.

Although neither the "yes", nor the "no" boxes are checked upon browsing back to the form, the entire line that the "yes" box is
on is slightly darker than the line the "no" box is on. The "No" option is presented below the "Yes: option, allowing this.

This is no doubt what they will claim as their communication to the buyer that the "Yes" is defaulted. Yet any reasonable person would agree that the box not being checked takes precedence over that line being slightly darker. Further, the instructions above those boxes state, "By clicking yes, you authorize Live Nation to send your name, address, and credit card information to Allianz Global Assistance, who will charge your card on the terms described above." What they don't say is that they will also send it if you don't check either box. Is that legal? No. Of course not.

Upon reviewing the printed receipt, the fraudulent insurance purchase is not listed as one of the items purchased, but they do thank you for the purchase, late in the fine print that follows. This, no doubt, is what they will claim as the communication to the buyer on that form that the insurance was added. More snake oil.

The entire fraud is the combination of all of these deceptions. But they are not just deceptions. Each would ultimately be found to be fraud if you spent enough money on attorneys. Each is fraud. But each allows room for some expensive debate first, thus making a class action less likely.

And where is the DA in this? Steal a loaf of bread and the DA will see you thrown in Jail. Steel $14 from 10,000 people and the DA is not interested.

On the Live Nation form, the insurance is listed as being provided by "Allianz Global Assistance" who then lists underwriters "BCS
Insurance Company or Jefferson Insurance Company". That is great, "or"!! Allianz itself is then listed as part of AGA Service
Company. AGA insurance company is then described as an affiliate of Jefferson Insurance Company. WTF!!

The twisted ball of snakes between the insurance providers might slow down a class action lawsuit, but it will not affect my decision as to whether to buy tickets from Ticketmaster or Live Nation in the future.