Quebec Superior Court Approves Class Action Lawsuit Against Ticketmaster For 'Unreasonable' Service Fees

The Quebec Superior Court has approved a class action lawsuit against Ticketmaster over the platform’s service fees.

Initially filed by Montreal law firm Paquette Gadler in August 2024, the lawsuit claims that the service fees charged by the ticketing service violate Quebec's Consumer Protection Act and the Quebec Civil Code.

Earlier this week, in a ruling dated Jan. 5, Justice Eleni Yiannakis said the case met the conditions for a full trial. A date has yet to be set.

Ticketmaster has faced similar criticisms and lawsuits related to ticket buying issues, from bots and resellers to high inventory demands and costs.

According to court documents, the firm notes that Ticketmaster's fees fluctuate based on ticket prices instead of the actual cost of the service provided. It’s a pricing model they call “excessive, unreasonable, abusive and disproportionate.”

The lawsuit was filed in August 2024 on behalf of the plaintiff and Montreal resident Felipe Morales, who bought four tickets on Ticketmaster in 2022 to see Bruce Springsteen perform in New Jersey the following year.

While initially buying tickets, Morales selected four floor tickets for $225, but was kicked out when his "transaction could not be finalized,” as cited in the lawsuit. In the following minutes, he returned to the purchase page, but had to select lesser-than-ideal seats. He proceeded to pay $1,000 per ticket, but was faced with an extra $599 in fees on top of the total $4,000 ticket price.

Morales claims that he “suffered harm” from what he describes as the platform’s “illegal and wrongful actions.” Additionally, he notes that Ticketmaster's service fees are not on par with what he was provided, noting that they increase as ticket prices go up — the lawsuit found that the platform’s fees can reach up to 75% of the base ticket price.

In addition, the class action includes Quebecers who bought tickets through Ticketmaster for any concerts in North America since July 2021, as Morales is "certainly not the only person to have suffered damages caused by the Defendants' fault in this matter." This includes purchases made at a venue's box office, on Ticketmaster's website (including their Admission Network) or their mobile app.

“It is clear that the global and regional situation in which the Live Nation company and its Subsidiaries, including the Defendants, operate is monopolistic and this only reinforces the need to ensure that the Defendants comply with their legal obligations,” the lawsuit reads.

In a statement, Ticketmaster clarifies the breakdown of ticket fees, saying they are "split between the venue and Ticketmaster to cover the essential costs of supporting the show, from staffing the venue to funding anti-fraud technology and payment processing."

They continue: "Ticketmaster‘s share of service fees is typically around 5-7 % of the total ticket price. We believe the most fair and transparent approach is showing fans the total cost upfront, which we've done in Canada since 2018. These fees are also scaled with the ticket price to help keep lower-priced tickets as affordable as possible."

If Paquette Gadler wins the case, Justice Yiannakis says that compensatory refunds — covering a portion of the overpaid fees — would be required. This includes any ticketed events bought through the platform.

A few months after Morales' lawsuit was initially filed in 2024, the Quebec government pursued legal action against a smaller ticketing agency, Billets.ca, accusing the platform of reselling tickets at higher prices than those advertised by authorized salespersons. It led to the recently-tabled Bill 10, which would require ticket-selling sites to clearly state resale ticket prices and display original ticket prices. The bill has yet to be passed.

Morales and the class members of the lawsuit are not the first group to speak out about Ticketmaster's high-priced fees.

Last year, in the U.S., the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a lawsuit against Ticketmaster and Live Nation, accusing the former of "tacitly coordinating" with resellers, allowing them to buy up tickets and inflate prices — it was thrown out yesterday (Jan. 7), with Ticketmaster calling the class action an “egregious overreach.”

Quebec ticket-buying residents who are affected can register for the class action lawsuit through Paquette Gadler's website.

UPDATE (1/9): This story has been updated with a comment from Ticketmaster.