Hundreds of Taylor Swift fans are suing Live Nation and Ticketmaster for antitrust violations and fraud after chaos and glitches led to countless fans missing out on tickets for Swift’s highly anticipated ‘Eras’ tour.
The tour kicks off Friday and Saturday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale.
“I was online for probably nine hours,” said Swiftie Joe Akmakjian. “I never actually got the ability to even put anything into my cart that first day because by the time I entered, everything was grayed out and sold out.”
“I think I spent all said and done about ten hours online that day,” said Julie Barfuss, another Swiftie. “And I walked away not having any tickets.”
Fans who had gone through a verification process prior to the pre-sale watched helplessly as their positions in waiting rooms and the queue refreshed. Prices and fees began to skyrocket.
Ticketmaster apologized for the chaos in November. Live Nation later told CNBC the issues were due to unprecedented demand.
“We waited for about nine hours and then the sale ended,” said Jennifer Kinder.
Jennifer Kinder and her daughter are fans of Swift too, and she is also an attorney. She saw thousands of fans sharing their frustration and outrage on social media so she decided to do something about it.
“I got on social media and I started asking questions, who was with me on this,” Kinder said.
The responses were overwhelming so Kinder decided to sue Ticketmaster and Live Nation, the live events company Ticketmaster merged with in 2010.
Kinder filed a 33-page lawsuit with more than 300 plaintiffs, claiming the live event giant committed intentional misrepresentation by misleading fans into thinking they would secure tickets, violated antitrust laws, and were fraudulent.
“Ticketmaster just dismantles and then ultimately exploits the consumer,” Kinder said.
Both Akmakjian and Barfuss are named in the lawsuit.
“I’m a fan of advocating for change when you can when you have the ability to,” Barfuss said.
“It’s about making sure that the average consumer isn’t getting pushed around,” Akmakjian added.
Kinder knows taking on the ticketing company is an uphill battle, but with the support from the Swift community, it’s one she is willing to climb.
“What I can do is I can get their attention,” Kinder said. “And the way that we get their attention is through their pocketbooks.”
The first court hearing is on March 27 in Los Angeles. Kinder said fans are planning to rally and protest outside the courthouse.
Src: 12news.com
