StubHub and Viagogo among companies being investigated by UK business regulator
Concert ticket reselling sites StubHub and Viagogo are among eight companies which are currently under investigation from the main business regulator in the UK, it has been announced.
The cases have been launched as part of a review into online pricing practices by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), marking the first investigations that the regulator is carrying out under new consumer protection laws.
Companies are being investigated across various industries for a range of different reasons, but StubHub and Viagogo are being put under the microscope for the “mandatory additional charges” they place on customers when buying tickets from their sites, according to BBC News.
The chief executive of the CMA, Sarah Cardell, said: “At a time when household budgets are under constant pressure and we’re all hunting for the best deal possible, it’s crucial that people are able to shop online with confidence, knowing that the price they see is the price they’ll pay, and any sales are genuine.”
Despite this, the CMA has confirmed that currently, they have “reached no conclusions about whether the law has been broken in any of these investigations”.
These fresh cases probing into StubHub and Viagogo comes only a month after the CMA concluded its investigation into Ticketmaster, where it concluded the company had issued “misleading” information but had ultimately not broken consumer protection laws when it came to the sale of tickets for the Oasis reunion tour in 2024.
In addition, last week a number of seismic names including Robert Smith and Sam Fender signed an open letter to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, imploring the government to clamp down on ticket touts and the secondary ticket markets, which primarily affects sites like StubHub and Viagogo.
With regard to this latest investigation, a spokesperson for Viagogo said: “We have continually engaged constructively with the CMA and will be fully cooperating with their investigation.”
StubHub has not yet responded publicly to the news of the investigation.
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