Broken barcodes and a pair of tickets that sold for much more are the reason for a request for approval of a class action lawsuit filed yesterday against Billets.ca and 514-Billets.com, a ticket resale company in Quebec.
The plaintiff Option consommateurs therefore accuses Billets.ca of “offering tickets to shows to the public at a higher price than the price approved by the show producer, without first obtaining the producer’s consent,” says the legal document consulted by Le Journal.
“The only authorized points of sale were the Zénith and Tuxedo cash registers,” it says.
In September 2022, a woman from Terrebonne purchased two seats for comedian Dominic Paquet’s show at the Zénith de Saint-Eustache on Billets.ca for $180.56.
Due to the appearance of the site, which closely resembled that of an official checkout, the lady did not know that she was browsing on a resale platform.
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On the day of the event, the customer discovered that the barcodes on her electronic tickets purchased through Billets.ca were not working. The Zénith box office has therefore replaced them with official tickets.
When she received them, the lady realized that she had overpaid $78.06 for her pair of tickets, which were originally listed at the official box office for $102.5.
Not the first time
Our investigative agency reported in recent days that the company Billets.ca was displaying seats that were much more expensive and less well located than those offered at the box offices of concert halls in Quebec.
Recall that the Quebec Association of the Record, Show and Video Industry (ADISQ) has filed no fewer than 230 complaints with the Consumer Protection Office (OPC) against Billets.ca for the resale of tickets.
The Consumer Protection Act prohibits a retailer from selling tickets at a higher price than the price stated by the manufacturer.
However, the company has been defending itself for several years by claiming that it is an intermediary between buyer and seller and not a dealer.
–In collaboration with Michael Nguyen