Good things are happening! StubHub’s hidden fees are too high, a judge tells Google to look up “monopoly,” a multibillion-dollar settlement will resolve hundreds of wildfire lawsuits, and Ohio says “high” to legal cannabis.
StubHub Gets Snubbed
The Washington, D.C. attorney general sued the ticket resale company StubHub for allegedly deceiving customers about the true cost of ticket prices by tacking on arbitrary fees. StubHub allegedly made $118 million off of these hidden fees after the company implemented them in 2015. Along with its practice of imposing hidden fees, StubHub has faced criticism for years for artificially inflating the price of resale tickets.
Attorney General Brian Schwalb accused StubHub of using a “bait-and-switch” technique by advertising deceptively low prices before adding mandatory fees. He also criticized the use of a 10-minute countdown timer on the webpage while customers are checking out, arguing that it created a “false sense of urgency.” These countdown timers tap into customers’ fears of missing out to get customers to buy before the time runs out. However, this process can leave customers feeling manipulated and deceived.
