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German court rules print at home ticket fees illegal
By Andy Malt | Published on Tuesday 6 September 2016
Here’s a fun story for anyone who’s ever shouted “FUCK OFF” at a computer screen when they’ve been charged a fee to print out their own tickets for an event. A German court has delivered a preliminary ruling that such fees should not be allowed, in a case brought against ticketing firm CTS Eventim by consumer rights group Verbraucherzentrale NRW.
In a press release, Verbraucherzentrale NRW said that the ruling, although not yet legally binding, could pave the way for similar action against other ticketing agencies which charge similar fees, including big bad Ticketmaster. The court said that if a fee was charged, then the provider was contractually bound to send out actual tickets.
CTS Eventim has told IQ that it intends to appeal the ruling. If it is upheld, it will still have to go to a higher court to be made legally binding. But if this happens, the company may be forced to reimburse fees deemed improperly charged to customers in the past.
