AXS Provides Misleading Answer to NYAG Consumer Complaints

The ongoing refusal of AEG and AXS to obey ticket transferability laws on the Zach Bryan tour dates in North America this spring took a new turn this week ahead of the singer’s two weekend stops at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens. Consumer complaints over the alleged violation of the state law were answered by the AXS legal department with factually inaccurate statements about the format that consumers were allowed to select during the ticket-buying process.

“AXS maintains its compliance with [New York’s Arts & Cultural Affairs laws] in connection with tickets sales to the event,” reads the response on company letterhead signed by Janet C. Usher, who is a Vice President within the company’s legal department according to LinkedIn. “At the time of purchase, customers are given the option to select delivery via AXS Mobile ID (i.e. digital non-transferable tickets) or via will call pickup.”

Unfortunately, that response (screenshot at the bottom of the post) is not accurate. The only method of delivery for the Zach Bryan tour dates in every city it has played is the mobile-only and non-transferable ticket system mentioned. This was the case during the initial sales period, and has remained the case throughout the lead-up to the show, despite multiple consumer complaints about it being against the law in states that include New York, Virginia, and Colorado where the tour is performing.

The consumer who made the complaint and shared the response with TicketNews also shared with us screenshots of customer service exchanges that took place between the time of their purchase indicating that mobile-only and non-transferable was the only option for ticket delivery to the performance, even when it was pointed out that this was not in compliance with the law. We also verified this to be the case during last-day drops of held-back tickets to both the Albany show in May and just yesterday when a large number of tickets were made available for the shows taking place Friday and Saturday in Queens:

TicketNews contacted AXS, AEG, and Bryan’s tour management to ask for a response to the discrepancy between the tour policy and the company’s legal response to a consumer complaint, but no response has been received as of Friday morning. All have been contacted throughout the spring with requests for comment as TicketNews has covered the tour, without response. A similar request for comment regarding the seemingly misleading statement to the New York Attorney General’s office has also not received a response as of the time of initial publication.

In a response from the NYAG’s office sent to the consumer in the wake of AXS’s seemingly deceptive answers to their complaint, the consumer was informed that they have the right to bring a lawsuit against the company if they feel that the alleged violations of state law have caused them harm. It is unclear if this particular consumer is going to choose to take that route, but other rights-holders have been sued over their failure to respect the ticket ownership rights that have been in place for New York events for more than half a decade.

The New York Yankees settled a lawsuit brought in the wake of the team attempting to cancel numerous season ticket accounts over their belief that they had been resold too frequently. The Knicks and Madison Square Garden have also been targeted by lawsuits alleging unlawful termination of season ticket accounts, which famously triggered the banning of longtime season ticket holder and attorney Larry Hutcher from the building for the crime of representing his clients in litigation against the organization.

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As part of its response to the consumer complaint, AXS did say that it would be happy to provide consumers who are impacted by their alleged refusal to follow the state laws in New York with the option of switching their tickets form the mobile-only and locked ticketing system to a will-call pickup on the day of the show, or a full refund. Per the letter AXS legal, consumers with tickets to this weekends shows in New York who do not with to attend are able to contact the company’s customer service department to request a refund.

We will update this story with any responses received from our outreach.

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Zach Bryan Tour Dates

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