Press Release: Buying on the internet : it’s now safer for consumers to shop for tickets online following EU action

Buying tickets for music and sporting events on the internet is now much less likely to end in tears, following a crackdown on problematic websites which sold tickets to non-existent events or which failed to explain whether the buyer would get a refund or not, if the event was cancelled. 88% of the websites selling tickets for cultural and sporting events, checked for breach of EU consumer rules, now comply with EU law (compared with only 40% in 2010), and further improvements can be expected as cases are brought to the courts.

The EU co-ordinated "Sweep" investigation was launched in September 2010 by national authorities in all Member States, Norway and Iceland. The problems identified included: incomplete or misleading information about the price of tickets; unfair terms and conditions; incomplete or misleading information about the trader. Sites have been corrected, usually voluntarily, but in some cases penalties were imposed.

European Commission: Memo/11/644: Frequently Asked Questions: Now safer to shop for tickets online following EU Sweep investigation http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/11/644&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

---