DThe time of postponements and cancellations caused by the pandemic is over. Rather, music fans faced an oversupply of tours in 2022, which in turn created another problem for the concert industry. After all, the costs for tours have increased enormously. Even more competition for the limited time and the sometimes also more limited budget of the music fans due to the omnipresent cost increases made the business even harder for some. If tours are canceled these days, this is partly due to the fact that not enough tickets are sold for a reasonably economical execution.
In the pandemic years, on the other hand, the corona restrictions were often the reason. Much to the chagrin of the artists, who are the most important source of income for many concerts. But fans also had trouble with tickets they had bought. Despite a generous reimbursement scheme as part of the voucher solution, many concert-goers were left with a proportion of the costs. In particular, the complaints against CTS Eventim, Europe’s largest ticketing and event group, increased from spring 2020.
In addition to tickets for shows or festivals organized by the group’s own organizers, Eventim also sells tickets on behalf of third parties via its platforms. As consumers reported, the company reimbursed the ticket costs for canceled concerts. However, Eventim retained a portion without providing any information to customers. When asked, it was argued at the time that these were fees for services that had been provided. At the time, the ticket agent kept to himself what these should be in the event of a canceled concert.
One-for-all lawsuit
This business practice has long been a thorn in the side of consumer advocates. From the point of view of the Federal Association of Consumer Centers (vzbv), Eventim must reimburse consumers for the full ticket price. Individual consumer centers in the countries took up the topic and sought to talk to Eventim – but ultimately they were unsuccessful. In May 2022, vzbv announced that it intended to file a so-called model declaratory action against the ticket provider. The advantage for affected customers: They can join the lawsuit and do not have to bear the process and cost risk. And the more disappointed ticket buyers join the lawsuit, the greater the threatening gesture for Eventim.
The vzbv has a lot of experience with this special form of action. A settlement was reached for around 235,000 diesel drivers in the Volkswagen emissions scandal: the group paid the car owners 830 million euros in compensation. Such a sum will not be the subject of the model declaratory action against Eventim. It was submitted to the Bavarian Supreme Regional Court in December 2022. Depending on the event and category booked, consumers can expect low to double-digit amounts, according to vzbv. More than 3,000 people are said to have followed the appeal. As of this week, anyone affected can register in a complaints register at the Federal Office of Justice. This is the requirement to join the lawsuit against Eventim.
It is not the first legal dispute between consumer advocates and Eventim, which is about concert cancellations. In a lawsuit brought by the North Rhine-Westphalia consumer advice center, the Munich Regional Court decided that Eventim may not refuse to refund the full purchase price in the event of canceled events with reference to its general terms and conditions. This applies in particular to the commission business, i.e. when Eventim acts in its own name for the account of a third party. In this case, the ticket buyers should also receive the advance booking fees in addition to the ticket price, the judges ruled in Munich.
Eventim considers the claim to be unfounded
“We are basically entitled to the pre-sale fee, which the court has confirmed. However, we have to charge the organizer for this. So far, we were instructed by the organizers to collect the fee from the customer, we have now adjusted that, ”said Eventim boss Klaus-Peter Schulenberg in July 2021 in an interview with the FAZ. However, the judgment also makes it clear “that customers must accept pandemic-related relocations”. Regarding the lawsuit brought by consumer advocates, the M-Dax group said: “The vzbv model declaratory action is obviously unfounded, and we will defend ourselves against it and request its rejection by the competent court.” Eventim’s business is “obvious in full accordance with law and order”.
With regard to the question of reimbursements in the event of cancellations or postponements of events, this has already been “expressly confirmed” by various lower courts and in July 2022 by two judgments of the Federal Court of Justice. “We assume that this procedure will not come to any other conclusion.”