OFT says firms have avoided refunds unfairly in the past
Insurers may have to pay for thousands more cancelled theatre and concert events after the Office of Fair Trading today tightened consumer rights over ticket refunds.
Members of Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR), which includes Lastminute.com, Ticketmaster, and the Big Bus Company, have agreed to implement revised terms and conditions that the OFT views as clearer and fairer under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations.
STAR members sell 30 million tickets a year.
The improvements include:
- clarifying what happens if an event is cancelled or rescheduled,
- clarifying the circumstances under which consumers can seek redress in the event that things go wrong,
- providing recourse to dispute resolution to consumers in the event of problems
Mike Haley, director of consumer protection at the OFT, said: “There is a need for consumers to have recourse to fair and clear terms and conditions in the rare occurrence that an event is cancelled or should any unfortunate or unforeseen problems arise.”
Failure to offer refunds
The OFT published a report on ticket agents in the UK in January 2005. It highlighted that a number of ticket agents' contracts contained potentially unfair terms and revealed a general failure to offer consumers their refund rights as set down in the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000.
Football focus
The OFT has previously secured agreement from Tottenham Hotspur on fairer ticket refunds for fans and from Manchester United FC to season ticket terms and conditions to make them clearer and fairer for fans.
