GENEVA, Switzerland (CelebrityAccess) — Switzerland’s consumer regulator, the FRC announced it has reached a settlement with the ticket resale platform Viagogo.
The agreement follows consumer complaints and more than six years of legal wrangling and includes a settlement of 100,000 francs (roughly $113,714 USD) that will be provided for the more than 800 people who testified on the matter in front of the FRC.
“This agreement was in our eyes the best option in the face of a procedure which was getting bogged down and which would certainly have lasted many years before a final decision,” stated Jean Tschopp, legal manager of the FRC in a machine-translated statement. “Our association has in fact preferred concrete improvements for Internet users which result in modifications to the Swiss Viagogo site (viagogo.ch) rather than waiting several more years before a final decision. “Moreover, pursuing legal action would not have guaranteed a favorable outcome for injured consumers. Even if the courts had convicted Viagogo, the victims would not necessarily have been compensated. There, the 807 people concerned will be there,” he added.
Additionally, as part of the settlement, Viagogo will implement a number of changes to its website in Switzerland, including making it clear to consumers that Viagogo is not a primary market ticketing platform. Additionally, Viagogo will work to make ticket pricing transparent at all times and pop-up windows that instill a sense of urgency in ticket buyers will be reduced.
As part of the settlement, the FRC will withdraw its criminal complaint, though the complaint may be reintroduced at a future date if Viagogo does not continue to comply with the terms of the settlement, the FRC said.
In announcing the ruling, the FRC also took search engine and advertising titan Google to task over facilitating Viagogo’s gray market issues.
“Due to its largely dominant position, Google must also take its responsibilities as a platform; these processes contribute to the success of sites that mislead people. In our eyes, it would not be complicated for this firm to set stricter rules to protect its users. She did it once; why not in a lasting way?” Tschopp added.
The FRC first launched legal action against Viagogo in 2017 when they initiated a criminal complaint against the company following more than 100 complaints about the platform from consumers. Those complaints included the lack of transparency over pricing, tactics employed to pressure consumers into making quick buying decisions, and language that suggests people are buying from official sellers instead of touts.
