Concert promotions giant Live Nation is being sued by a New Jersey resident who claims the company’s parking and other fees at PNC Bank Arts Center, and Live Nation’s recent marketing initiative “No Fee Wednesdays,” are deceptive and unfair to consumers.
In the lawsuit filed on behalf of Michael Katz of Freehold, NJ, who is represented by the law firm Galex Wolf, LLC, it claims that Live Nation’s $6-$12 per ticket parking fee, which is charged whether a person walks or drives to a show at the venue, is “arbitrary and unfair.” In addition, the lawsuit also challenges the charging of a “charity fee” of as much as $1.25, even though the charity is not named.
As for the company’s No Fee Wednesdays promotion, the lawsuit claims that Live Nation jacks up the ticket price to essentially cover the difference of not separately charging the various fees.
Katz bought multiple tickets for the same show for friends and family on a regular day and on a no-fee day, and the tickets for bought on the no-fee day were reportedly higher. The lawsuit calls the practice “unlawful and deceptive,” and claims Live Nation is violating New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act and Truth in Consumer Contract, Notice and Warranty Act.
Live Nation spokesperson John Vlautin said he had not yet seen the lawsuit and could not yet comment. Following complaints about the parking and charity fees this past March, he told TicketNews that the former “facility fee” had been in place for a number of years. “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 added, “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.”
The lawsuit comes as Live Nation works to convince federal regulators to approve its proposed merger with Ticketmaster, which the two companies hope to complete in the next several months.
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My last post was deleted, assuming I didn’t come down on the side TN wanted me so I got censored! Lame!
Funny. Now TN is deleting comments just because they dont like them? How much more biased can you be Al?
What a lame lawsuit. I guess this guy doesn’t care about keeping order in the parking lot or paying people who do a wonderful job of trying to get everyone in to the concert on time. Only in the armpit of America, New Jersey, would something like this fly.
I also had my comment deleted! Donnie you are a JERK! Are you gonna delete this post too. Hey Donnie, we live in a FREE COUNTRY and one of our RIGHTS is FREEDOM OF SPEECH. Do you sleep during Civics class in school. ^&*()(*!@@#$($! Figure out that.
The last comments that you posted were personal attacks and in our determination, not pertinent to the ticketing industry. Therefore, they were removed per our policy.
the parking and convenience fees are a joke but what can you do , I imagine they will eventually get rid of the parking fees but they will just jack up their convenience charge
I bought tickets on the No Fee Wednesday for 2 shows and the price was the same as the prior day. not sure what Mr. Katz is talking about. I do agree the parking fee is a joke and that was the orignial reason I did not buy any shows at PNC till the promotion.
Miserable, miserable people –
You get a break on something we’ve all been griping about for YEARS and it now becomes an issue of parking. Remember going to LN’s amphitheatres back in the day when it would take hours to get in because you had to pay cash at the gate to park? I’ll gladly pay 6.00 per ticket not to have to wait as long in line – now THAT’S a convenience charge. I’m sure by now it’d be 20.00 / car anyway.
My god…I”m sure Mr. Kutz doesn’t mind paying for a nice dinner, but he complains about a $10 parking fee…what a sad, sad individual
Good job Mr. Katz! It’s not the point of the lousy 5 bucks, it’s the principle of the matter. It’s an unfair charge and why should we have to pay for it? I’m sick of big companies taking advantage of the little people.
this argument is a petty whine. The principle of the matter is it is a privilege in a world like this to be able to afford a concert ticket. People like this guy are what’s completely wrong with American consumer culture. Whine whine whine. If you want to get technical… “NO SERVICE FEES” means no service fees. Parking/venue fees are not service fees. Kudos to Live Nation for trying something different – I’m sure most reasonable people think shaving anything off ticket prices is a step in the right direction, why not encourage it? Does Katz work for Ticketmaster or something?