BookTix Fails to Disclose 'All-In Price' in Violation of N.Y. Law: Class Action

BookTix, a virtual box office for local community performances, conceals processing fees until the final moments of checkout, in violation of New York’s “all-in pricing” mandate, alleged a fraud class action Monday (docket 7:24-cv-03670) in U.S. District Court for Southern New York in White Plains.

Changes in the New York Arts and Cultural Affairs Law (N.Y. ACAL) in 2022 mandated that a place of entertainment or platform that resells tickets must disclose the total cost of the ticket, including ancillary fees required to purchase the ticket, in a “clear and conspicuous manner the portion of the ticket price stated in dollars that represents a service charge, or any other fee or surcharge to the purchaser.” The total costs and fees must be displayed prior to the ticket being selected for purchase, and the price of the ticket “shall not increase during the purchase process,” said the complaint.

The ticket purchasing process begins when a consumer visits a ticket platform and first sees a list of seat prices; the price can’t change from that time to when the consumer selects the ticket for purchase, said the complaint. The “all-in price” must be disclosed before the consumer selects the ticket for purchase, it said.

Operators who use BookTix are typically selling a limited number of tickets to small venues, with no alternative option to buy tickets electronically and no secondary market for ticket resellers, said the complaint. Buying an electronic ticket via BookTix is often the only way for a parent or friend to see a child perform in a school musical, it said.

BookTix bills itself as a cost-effective ticketing platform for operators, saying it’s a “robust ticketing solution that is free to your program,” said the complaint. The defendant doesn’t collect setup fees from event operators but collects a “low, flat fee charge per ticket” from consumers, plus a percentage of the ticket price, said the complaint. The flat fee for the types of events that use BookTix can be a “significant portion of the total ticket price,” it said.

In “direct contravention” of the New York all-in pricing mandate, BookTix doesn’t disclose its fees or the total ticket price until “after consumers have selected tickets for purchase, chosen seats at the venue, and placed the tickets into a virtual shopping cart for checkout,” alleged the complaint. There’s no reference to the all-in ticket price until the end of the purchase process, when the price changes after the ticket is placed in the shopping cart for purchase, it said.

BookTix also limits the time a consumer has to buy tickets to “protect against the possibility that multiple people purchase the same seat for a venue,” the complaint alleged. The service does so by timing transactions and terminating ticket purchases that would allow the purchaser “adequate time to consider capitulating to the hidden fee,” it said. After a few minutes pass, the transaction terminates and the ticket is removed from the shopping cart, “causing the original consumer to lose their selected seat,” it said. Given the size of venues where BookTix is used, and the limited runs of performances, “a few seconds’ delay in purchasing a ticket could mean the difference between a prime center seat with a clear view of the entire stage, and a seat in the back corner (or no seat at all),” it said.

Kelly Crisci of Newburgh, New York, bought a ticket in April to see a school performance of Moana JR in Cornwall, New York, using BookTix, alleged the complaint. The transaction the plaintiff viewed was “substantially similar” to the transaction depicted in the complaint, it said. Screenshots of the purchase price for an April 19 performance at Cornwall Central Middle School showed all tickets were $10. After the ticket was added to the cart, the total price went to $11.50, a 15% increase from the base price for “fees,” the complaint said.

Crisci didn’t think she had time to call the school directly to inquire about alternate means to buy tickets and was worried the ticket for her chosen ticket would be timed out, so she paid the $11.50 to buy the ticket on BookTix to see her friend’s daughter in the play, despite the “deceptive ticketing platform,” said the complaint.

The plaintiff seeks an order declaring that BookTix’s practices violate the N.Y. ACAL, an award of compensatory and statutory damages, prejudgment interest, an order of restitution, injunctive relief and attorneys’ fees and costs. BookTix didn’t comment Tuesday.