June 4, 2018

The ASA has referred the secondary ticketing provider, viagogo AG, to National Trading Standards for its failure to make changes to misleading pricing information on its website.

The ASA says that following a formal investigation and upheld ruling published in March, viagogo “continues to mislead consumers by not being upfront and clear about additional booking fees and delivery charges that are added at the end of the booking process.”

In summary, the ASA banned several pricing practices by viagogo for:

• not making clear the total ticket price at the beginning of the customer journey;
• not including the booking fee (inclusive of VAT) upfront; and
• not making clear the applicable delivery fee.

The ASA explains that UK ad rules require that quoted prices must include non-optional taxes and fees that apply to all or most buyers.  Advertisers should also state any applicable delivery fees.

Viagogo failed to meet the deadline (29 May) it was set to make the necessary changes to its website (having taken into account the time needed to make structural changes), despite having provided assurances that it would do so.  The ASA was not, therefore, satisfied that viagogo had brought its website in line with the advertising rules.  To read the ASA’s press release in full, click here.