Ticket reseller StubHub UK customers to get refunds over illegal hidden fees

Ticket reseller StubHub UK has been ordered to refund more than 50,000 customers and pay a £900,000 fine for not showing people the total price upfront when buying tickets. Each customer is expected to receive £10 on average per transaction, following an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). "Hitting customers with hidden fees is illegal. It's not fair to draw people in with what looks like a good deal, only for them to find the real price is higher when they get to the checkout due to extra charges that can't be avoided," said Emma Cochrane, executive director of consumer protection at the CMA. The regulator said StubHub UK would contact fans about their refund. The fine for StubHub comes as the CMA investigated several firms as part review of online pricing practices, such as drip pricing, which was banned last year. Drip pricing is when fees and charges are introduced later in the buying process rather than upfront, giving customers the impression that a product is cheaper than it really is. The CMA found between 6 April and 7 December last year that some customers buying tickets for gigs and sports events via StubHub UK were required to pay mandatory costs such as delivery and service fees, which were unavoidable but only added at the final checkout stage. The regulator said StubHub UK admitted breaking the law and received a 40% reduction to its financial penalty. It has also taken steps to "end the conduct", it added. …