Ticketmaster recently settled a $386 million class-action lawsuit over the labeling of its service charges, and, as a result, is now doling out discount codes and concert vouchers to millions of customers. Anyone who bought tickets from the company between Oct. 21, 1999 and Feb. 27, 2013 is eligible to reap the benefits.
But if being showered with free tickets to concerts of your choosing sounds too good to be true, that’s because it is.
A long scroll of fine print accompanies the Ticketmaster offerings. Starting this week, customers covered under the lawsuit may see one or more of the following show up in their accounts:
- discount codes
- UPS vouchers
- ticket vouchers
The discount codes are for a mere $2.25, though, and customers have to make new Ticketmaster purchases in order for those to apply. Fresh purchases also are required to make use of the UPS vouchers—which are for $5 and reserved for people who used UPS delivery for their Ticketmaster purchases in the 13-year period. The maximum number of discount codes or vouchers any one person can be eligible for is also capped at 17 apiece.
As for the $10 million worth of concert vouchers, which are being issued by Ticketmaster’s parent company, Live Nation, they’ll apply only to “events and venues … within Live Nation’s sole discretion.” In addition, each eligible show can accommodate only 100 voucher-holders, on a first-come, first-served basis.
Today (June 21), Ticketmaster released the eagerly awaited list of events for which settlement ticket vouchers may be used. Over 400 shows in the US and Canada are listed, including performances by Def Leppard, Gwen Stefani, and Bob Dylan—but, as expected, the company isn’t exactly handing out free seats to Beyoncé or Adele.