(WHTM)– Concerts and sporting events are entertaining but buying tickets to them is not always as great. Especially when huge fees are added at the very end of an online transaction.
“People have been playing junk fees like this for years,” State Rep. Nick Pisciottano (D-Allegheny) said.
Recent examples; Two KISS concert tickets were $69, and the fees $53 more. Friday’s John Mayer show in Baltimore is $182 per ticket and $68 per ticket in fees. Those added costs don’t pop up until customers are about to check out.
“So my bill is simple,” Pisciottano said.
Pisciottano’s bill would make vendors disclose all those fees immediately. Not on the back end. He calls it the “price you see is the price you pay act.”
“It’s a reasonable consumer protection that forces price transparency,” Pisciottano said. “We’re not banning anything. We’re not going after the businesses of the companies. But consumers should know what they’re going to pay when they see the price upfront.”
There is precedent from when the FAA put tighter controls on airlines. If Frontier Airlines says you can fly from Harrisburg to Orlando for $19 it has to be possible; costs, fees and taxes are fully disclosed.
“This is a piece of bipartisan legislation that we can get through Harrisburg, it should be something like this, right,” Pisciottano said. “Where everybody agrees there’s a problem and we have a reasonable solution.”
Unreasonable, some Republicans in Harrisburg say, is prioritizing this when the budget is still undone.
“This is beyond ridiculous,” State Rep. Rob Kauffman (R-Franklin) said. “We need to get to the real work of the people and let Taylor Swift and Ticketmaster worry about themselves. Having said that, you’re going to probably vote for it. I’ll vote for it because, you know, there’s no reason not to at this point.”
“We can walk and chew gum at the same time,” Pisciottano said. “And when we get the chance to move important issues for Pennsylvanians forward, that’s what we’re going to do.”
The bill passed the Democrat-controlled House and is now on to the Republican-controlled Senate. Its future there, like many House bills, is very unclear.
