For people who have a Ticketmaster account, it would be a good idea to check their e-mails right away. The company announced this Sunday that it had issued millions of tickets and discount codes via e-mail as part of a lawsuit settlement. The company was sued back in 2003 for twisting the definition of shipping and processing fees. After more than a decade, a court is finally bringing the company to justice, a process that the grunge band “Pearl Jam” started back in 1999.

The company was sued back in 2003 for twisting the definition of shipping and processing fees. After more than a decade, a court is finally bringing the company to justice, a process that the grunge band “Pearl Jam” started back in 1999.

Ticketmaster has been accused of overcharging the price of the tickets for major events. According to the accusations, the company uses its processing fee and shipping charge to increase cost event’s passes further. Back in 1999, the members of Pearl Jam officially sued them for that reason, but after a year of struggling against the large organization, the investigation was dropped due to lack of both funds and evidence. However, in 2003, the company was sued again, and this time, the charges were misinterpreting the process and shipping charges which ended into Ticketmaster getting to a settlement.

As part of the agreement, around 50 million users will receive discount coupons, UPS codes, and tickets. People who used the company’s services from 1999 to 2013 are being given $2.25 discount codes for future purchases, 5% discount codes for UPS shipping and tickets for future events.

Look into this people! I had 7 pairs of free tickets sitting there waiting for me in my @Ticketmaster account. https://t.co/sgkWEzgbcE — Corbin Reiff (@CorbinReiff) June 18, 2016

The quantity of free tickets and codes will be based on some transactions the person did during the period (1999 – 2013), for instance, if a person purchased 50 tickets, they would get 50 2.25% discount codes for future purchases. If a person used UPS shipping with Ticketmaster 20 times in that period, he or she will receive 20 5% discount codes for UPS shipping and so on. However, these free codes, coupons, and tickets are valid for only four years.

Ticketmaster has been involved in other controversial cases

Ticketmaster, now Live Nation Entertainment, has a very aggressive competitive strategy. They always secure long exclusive sale-contracts with significant events which make them the only authorized seller for their events, and they have grabbed a huge portion of the market.

The company has one of these contracts with 27 out of the 30 NHL teams and 28 of the whole 30 NBA teams. Also, many famous artists use this service to sell their events because the company has created a stable distribution infrastructure.

Ticketmaster: "Here are your free tickets!"

Internet: "Cool wow can you tell me how to use them?"

Ticketmaster: pic.twitter.com/mlozdKZouH — erin mccann (@mccanner) June 18, 2016

Besides overcharging the tickets, the organization has been accused of purchasing the tickets through TicketsNow, an on-line re-seller supposedly own by Ticketmaster, and then, re-selling them at a much higher price. For instance, in 2008, the AC/DC show in Vancouver was extensively covered by the media because the tickets sold out in less than an hour.

Later that day, TicketsNow was offering them at a much higher price, and something similar happened with the Killers concert in Toronto. In spite of these cases, all the accusations are informal, and the company has never been taken to court for re-selling tickets.

Source: Cincinnati