Viagogo still not complying with court order, watchdog warns

In November 2018, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) secured a legal order against Viagogo. It required that Viagogo display "improved" information about the tickets listed for resale on its site, including telling buyers which seat in a venue they would get and if there was a risk they could be turned away at the door.

In January the CMA threatened to take Viagogo back to court due to "serious concerns" that it wasn't following the order. The CMA has now said that while there have been some improvements, there are still "issues of concern" around Viagogo's compliance.

MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis has previously urged concert-goers not to use Viagogo due to complaints from users.  

What did the court order say?

At the High Court in November, Viagogo agreed to address the CMA's concerns without the need for a trial.

As well as the requirements above, the legal order instructed Viagogo to comply with the Consumer Rights Act by:

• Providing information about who is selling the ticket, so people can benefit from enhanced legal rights when buying from a business.

• Not giving misleading information about the availability and popularity of tickets. This could lead customers into rushing a purchase or making the wrong choice.

• Making it easy for people to get their money back under Viagogo's guarantee when things go wrong.

• Preventing someone selling tickets that they don't own and may not be able to supply.

The CMA set a deadline of 17 January 2019 for Viagogo to comply with the above.

What does the CMA say?

The watchdog said: "Although some improvements have been made since we first demanded action to address areas of non-compliance, further checks have shown there are still issues of concern.

"For a company not to comply with a court order is clearly very serious. We are therefore now preparing to take legal action to ask a court to find Viagogo in contempt." 

A Viagogo spokesperson said: "We take the CMA’s concerns very seriously. However, we strongly believe we are not in breach of the court order.

"As the CMA indicated, we have successfully made several improvements to our platform to meet the compliance requirements of the order. We remain committed to working closely with the CMA and to achieving the highest standards possible on behalf of the thousands of people who use Viagogo every day."