StubHub Hidden Ticket Fee Class Action Lawsuit Stays Alive

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

On Monday, a California judge denied an attempt by StubHub Inc. and its parent company eBay Inc. to escape a class action lawsuit accusing them of hiding ticket fees from buyers until checkout.

Superior Court Judge Harold Kahn noted that there were sufficient factual questions to allow plaintiff Susan Wang to get “past the pleading hurdle” but that it may be insufficient to “get her past any other hurdle.”

Wang claims in the StubHub class action lawsuit that the defendants advertise tickets to live shows at artificially low ticket prices. She says they hide the ticket fees until after the would-be buyer logs in to the website and enters payment information.

StubHub and eBay argue that Wang’s allegations do not amount to the type of “bait and switch” that a California appellate court found unlawful in the case of Veera v. Banana Republic. In that case, the court reportedly found that customers could allege they were lured into a store by a sign advertising sale prices and were coerced into paying the full retail price for merchandise after being told that some items were not covered by the sale.

Attorneys for the defendants argued that, unlike the Veera v. Banana Republic case, Wang purchased tickets on the internet and was never promised a bargain. StubHub claims that it did not defraud anyone because it did not misrepresent the price, such as by suggesting the price would be discounted by 40 percent as in the Veera case.

Further, all customers are notified in the terms and conditions that StubHub may impose fees, the company argues.

Judge Kahn found that Wang’s arguments were likely to meet the legal framework of a bait and switch claim and could successfully meet the pleading standard but that her arguments might not be strong enough to get pass the pleading stage.

However, the judge told StubHub that it could have given customers a little more information about the potential fees it charges, such as a flat rate fee or a percentage of the ticket price.

Judge Kahn rejected StubHub’s attempt to force Wang into arbitration, finding that it didn’t make sense to handle her claim individually because her request for injunctive relief would make it such that, if she prevailed, she would be the only customer to see the added ticket fees up front.

Wang filed the StubHub class action lawsuit in February, claiming the company offers tickets to live concerts, sporting events and other events at one price but does not reveal the fees that are associated with the ticket purchase until the customer has entered the billing information.

The StubHub class action lawsuit asserts claims for violations of the Consumer Legal Remedies Act, Unfair Competition Law and False Advertising Law.

Wang is represented by Annick Persinger of Tycko & Zavareei LLP.

The StubHub Hidden Ticket Fee Class Action Lawsuit is Susan Wang v. StubHub Inc., et al., Case No. CGC18564120, in the California Superior Court for the City and County of San Francisco.