A second lawsuit has been filed against Live Nation over its parking and undisclosed charity fees at New Jersey’s PNC Bank Arts Center.
The new class action lawsuit, filed this month by New Jersey resident Clifford Davidson in U.S. District Court, alleges that Live Nation unfairly charges each ticket buyer a $6 parking fee for events at the center, while other area venues charge a single per car fee, or no fee at all in the case of the Nikon at Jones Beach Theater on Long Island.
Davidson and other ticket buyers are forced to pay the fee – and an additional charity fee of 25 cents per ticket even though no specific charity has been disclosed – regardless of the number of people in a car and whether there are available parking spaces or not, according to the lawsuit. Like many venues, the number of seats at the center is greater than the number of parking spaces.
“Defendants do not allow ticket buyers to decline the parking charge or to pay one price per family or per carload,” the lawsuit stated. “The parking fee must be paid as a condition to purchasing a ticket to a live event promoted by defendants at PNC Bank Arts Center.”
The lawsuit goes on to state that Live Nation is duplicitous and has a “propensity for deception” because the parking fee has occasionally disappeared from the company’s Web site but was added into the overall ticket price, and customers often do not learn of the fee until after a ticket order is placed.
Live Nation did not immediately return a message seeking comment, but over the summer, after the first lawsuit was filed alleging essentially the same claims, company spokesperson John Vlautin said the parking fee was always part of the ticket price.
“We have always operated under a system at PNC Bank Arts Center where parking is charged as a per ticket fee. This policy is in place to alleviate traffic issues that would be caused by customers stopping to pay a parking fee at the lot entrance,” Vlautin said.
Davidson could not be reached for comment, but his lawsuit also claims that Live Nation’s actions also violate the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act. In addition, the lawsuit alleges that Live Nation has collected in excess of $5 million for the parking fee alone.
“The charge is calculated based on our research that the average music fan comes to PNC with two people in their car. The per ticket charge helps to ensure that all fans can enter the venue in a timely and safe manner,” Vlautin added.
