Two New Jersey ticket broker companies, part of a lawsuit filed in the spring by state Attorney General Anne Milgram over the resale of Bruce Springsteen tickets, settled their cases with her office this week, without admitting any wrongdoing.
The two companies, Almost Backstage Inc., of Vauxhall, N.J., and Ticket Town, Inc., of Fort Lee, NJ, will each pay the state $5,000 and will “not offer for sale, sell or advertise for purchase any concert ticket prior to the initial on-sale date.” In addition, the two have agreed to only sell tickets they have on-hand.
Ticket Town does business as Northeasttickets.com, while Almost Backstage reportedly does business as abtickets.com. A spokesperson for Almost Backstage could not be reached for comment, and a representative who answered the phone at Ticket Town declined to comment.
“We want to end the fraud committed against the public through the offering of phantom tickets,” Milgram said in a statement. “Our message to the ticket resale industry is very clear – it is fraud to sell something that you don’t have and may never have, while giving the public the impression that these tickets are yours to sell.”
These settlements are the latest Milgram has achieved from the ticket industry this year. Over the winter, the AG’s office reached a settlement with also in connection with the way the companies sold Bruce Springsteen tickets.
Other similar lawsuits Milgram filed are still pending against Select-A-Ticket, which is owned by former National Association of Ticket Brokers President Tom Patania, and TicketNetwork, owner of TicketNews. A third pending lawsuit was filed against Orbitz’s Cheaptickets.com, which has a partnership with TicketNetwork.
At various times, the companies allegedly sold tickets to some of Bruce Springsteen’s September and October concerts for prices above face value. In addition, there were allegedly some discrepancies for which seats were being offered with some ticket listings allegedly for rows or seats that did not exist at the venue.
David Szuchman, New Jersey’s Consumer Affairs Director, said in a statement that the state will consider lawsuits against brokers who allegedly deceive fans. “We continue our efforts to produce a level-playing field for consumers who expect, and are entitled to, an equal opportunity to purchase tickets when seats initially go on sale.”
