http://www.free-press-release.com/news/200907/1246487551.html
(Free-Press-Release.com) July 1, 2009—
Live Nation, Inc. was served yesterday with a class action lawsuit
charging that the company’s “parking fee”, “ticket fee” and other pricing policies at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey violate New Jersey consumer protection
laws. The lawsuit, filed last week in New Jersey Superior Court, Mercer County by attorneys
at Galex Wolf, LLC in North Brunswick, challenges Live Nation’s practice of charging arbitrary and unfair “fees” in addition to the advertised admission price for events at the Arts Center, including a mandatory “parking fee” (typically $6 per ticket) charged regardless of the ticket holder’s intent park a car at the venue, a “ticket fee” (ranging from about $6.00 to $12.00 per ticket) charged without identifying any benefit received in exchange for the fee, and a “charity fee” (ranging from $0.25 to $1.25 per ticket) charged without identifying any charitable organization that would benefit from the fee.
The lawsuit also accuses Live Nation of unlawful and deceptive pricing practices in connection with a recent promotional program called “No Service Fee Wednesday” in which the company had advertised a moratorium on service fees for tickets purchased on designated Wednesdays. The complaint alleges that Live Nation has increased the base admission price for Arts Center events sold on “No Service Fee Wednesday” to compensate for the supposed “service fee” discount, and has in fact charged “fees” on “No Service Fee Wednesday” tickets, including the mandatory $6 “parking fee”.
The complaint asserts that Live Nation’s unfair and deceptive fee and pricing policies at the PNC Bank Arts Center violate the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act and Truth in Consumer Contract, Notice and Warranty Act, and seeks damages under these statutes for all consumers who paid Live Nation’s “fees” or who paid inflated “No Service Fee Wednesday” admission prices for Arts Center events. The complaint also seeks an injunction that would prohibit Live Nation from continuing its unlawful practices at the Arts Center.
The named plaintiff in the lawsuit, Michael Katz of Freehold, purchased 16 tickets last month to an Arts Center concert for himself and a group of friends and family members. In addition to the admission price, Mr. Katz was charged various “fees” for each ticket purchased, including a $6.00 “parking fee”, which resulted in Mr. Katz paying a total of $96 in “parking fees” even though his group planned to travel to the Arts Center together only three or four cars. Further, Mr. Katz purchased seven of the tickets on a “No Service Fee Wednesday”, and while Live Nation did not charge the $6.25 “ticket fee” imposed with the nine previously purchased tickets, the base admission price of the seven “No Service Fee Wednesday” tickets was $21.25 higher than the other tickets (all 16 tickets were for the same general admission “lawn” seating).