Ticketmaster Delivery Fee Settlement Rejected for Being Too Small

A multi-million dollar class action lawsuit settlement reached last year with Ticketmaster over its delivery fees has been rejected by a California judge, setting the stage for a trial this fall.

The $22.3 million Ticketmaster settlement was proposed to settle a class action lawsuit that accused the company of misleading customers into believing the delivery fees they were paying were passed on to UPS or other carriers, when they were actually revenue drivers for the ticketing company. Had the plaintiffs known that the delivery fees were not passed on, they claimed they would have never bought the tickets or would have decided on a different delivery method, such as the U.S. mail, which does not carry a fee.

The Ticketmaster class action lawsuit settlement was turned down by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kenneth R. Freeman, who ruled the settlement “offered virtually no benefit” to Class Members. Ticketmaster planned to give fans either a small cash payment or discount on future ticket purchases.

The settlement rejection is reportedly a big blow to Ticketmaster, which must now prepare for an October 5 trial while in the midst of a separate but similar class action lawsuit over service fees. The company is also in a current legal battle with its insurance carrier, Illinois Union Insurance Co., for the insurance company’s alleged refusal to pay the legal expenses in the rejected class action lawsuit settlement.