NY Attorney General Investigating “Speculative” Springsteen Tickets On Resale Sites

Ilya S. Savenok/Getty

NY Attorney General Investigating “Speculative” Springsteen Tickets On Resale Sites

Ilya S. Savenok/Getty

The New York City Attorney General is investigating “speculative” tickets to upcoming Bruce Springsteen concerts being sold on resale sites like StubHub, TicketNetwork, and Vivid Seats, Reuters reports. Although tickets for Springsteen’s recently announced 2016 tour don’t actually go on sale until 12/11, resellers have already put up listings for them — hence “speculative” — with some of these currently nonexistent tickets going for upwards of $5000. The problem with that should be immediately apparent, and the Attorney General thinks so too. “Speculative tickets harm both consumers and the ticket industry,” wrote Assistant Attorney General for the Internet Bureau Jordan Adler in a letter to resale sites ordering them to remove any speculative Springsteen listings and asking executives to meet with investigators to answer questions about how they prevent speculative ticket sales. “In many cases, consumers who purchase a speculative ticket do not receive the seats that were advertised and paid for.”

All three companies have issued statements in response. According to a spokesman for TicketNetwork, “We have voluntarily chosen to take down any inventory listed on our site for Bruce Springsteen concerts in New York until the public sale this Friday and urge any other sites that have them listed now to do the same.” A representative for Vivid Seats confirms that the company received the letter and says that they share “the goal of ensuring a positive customer experience in ticket buying.” StubHub, on the other hand, say they plan to respond to the letter but that they stand behind every ticket sold on the site and promise all customers will get their tickets. “If any of these things do not occur, we will find comparable or better tickets to the event, or provide a refund,” the spokesman said.

Just when you thought the ticket resale industry couldn’t get any slimier!

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