Competition Bureau suing Cineplex for alleged junk fees for online tickets

OTTAWA –

The Competition Bureau is suing Cineplex for allegedly promoting deceptive ticket costs, the company mentioned Thursday.

The Bureau alleged in a press launch that Cineplex is breaking the legislation by including a further charge that raises the worth of its tickets bought on-line.

It mentioned an investigation discovered that buyers cannot purchase tickets on-line at marketed costs as a result of there’s a obligatory $1.50 charge for reserving on-line.

The Bureau alleges that is an instance of deceptive drip pricing, also called a junk charge.

The Bureau famous that amendments to the Competition Act enacted final June explicitly acknowledge drip pricing as a dangerous business observe.

It mentioned any extra fastened fees or charges are false or deceptive underneath the legislation until they’re imposed by the federal government, reminiscent of gross sales tax.

Cineplex introduced the net reserving charge final June. It mentioned Scene Plus rewards members would pay a lowered $1 per ticket bought on-line, whereas members of CineClub, the corporate’s month-to-month subscription program, wouldn’t pay any charge.

The firm mentioned on the time it was trying to “further invest and evolve our digital infrastructure,” together with web site upgrades.

The Bureau alleged that Cineplex has generated vital revenues from the charge since its introduction. It mentioned it has filed an software with the Competition Tribunal searching for for Cineplex to cease what it calls misleading promoting, pay a penalty, and “issue restitution” to affected prospects.

“Consumers expect to pay the advertised price. We’re taking action against Cineplex because misleading tactics like drip pricing only serve to deceive and harm consumers,” Commissioner of Competition Matthew Boswell mentioned within the press launch.

“For years, we have urged businesses, including ticket vendors, to display the full price of their products upfront. I remind all businesses to review their pricing claims to make sure they do not mislead consumers.”

Cineplex didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

With recordsdata from David Friend