Australian Consumer Advocacy Group Blasts Ticketing Giants for ‘Fleecing Fans’

Ticketek and Ticketmaster have collected Choice’s Shonky Awards, a dubious honor handed out to those businesses deemed to offer some of the nation’s worst products and services.

Representantes da Ticketmaster e Ticketek responderam.

The ticketing giants were responsible for “fleecing fans,” remarks Choice CEO Monique Perry, as the consumer advocacy group on Wednesday (Nov. 4) announced its 2026 Shonkys.

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The ticketing companies were fingered for “gouging consumers during a cost-of-living crisis,” reads a statement issued by Choice. “Both companies have used a number of sneaky tactics, like dynamic pricing or ‘in demand’ tickets, to push ticket prices for live events to ridiculous new heights.”.

Time and time again, Perry continues, the ticketing companies have used “sneaky tactics such as dynamic pricing or higher-cost ‘in demand’ tickets, concealing ticket prices ahead of sale and strict time limits to take advantage of fans desperately wanting to secure a spot.

E, quanto aos “in demand tickets”, os organizadores de eventos definem os preços dos ingressos mais procurados “mais próximos ao valor de mercado e podem revisá-los ao longo do período de vendas.

Esses preços não aumentam automaticamente porque mais fãs entram na fila”, diz a declaração da Ticketmaster.

Where variable pricing was used for the event, billed as The Songs of John Farnham: A Living Legend – The Celebration Concert, fewer than 7% of tickets were affected, which meant that for most ticket categories, prices didn’t budge, according to reps.

Onde eles fizeram, cerca de 3,7 % dos ingressos estavam em categorias onde o preço aumentou, enquanto 3,3 % estavam em categorias onde o preço diminuiu, enquanto mais de 92 % dos ingressos foram vendidos ao preço original, inalterado.

Ticketek reiterated that ticket prices are set by the artist, promoter or event organizer, and variable pricing is only used when they choose to — in which case, consumers are notified about potential price changes before they enter the on-sale.

Choice keeps close tabs on the ticketing industry. The group has campaigned for a cleaner, clearer secondary ticketing market and, as part of that crusade, bestowed a “Shonky” to Viagogo in 2017, citing “dodgy practices that tick off consumers.”.

Uma organização independente, sem fins lucrativos, membro desde 1959, a Choice lançou uma série de empresas e indústrias ao ataque este ano, incluindo Virgin Australia, Hisense, Petcover, Quest Protein Chips e Sony Interactive Entertainment.

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