Booking Platform Peek.com Illegally Fails to Include Fees in Online Ticket Prices for New York Venues, Class Action Says

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A proposed class action alleges ticketing platform Peek Travel, Inc. has unlawfully failed to include certain fees in the stated total cost of a ticket at the beginning of the online purchase process for New York venues.

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According to the 33-page fraud lawsuit, the software company provides a booking platform where consumers can purchase tickets to New York-based entertainment venues such as the Color Factory, the Museum of Ice Cream and the INTER_ and ARTECHOUSE art centers.

The suit claims that instead of disclosing the processing or convenience fees associated with each venue at the beginning of the purchase process, Peek “ambush[es]” consumers with an added charge at checkout, after they have clicked through multiple screens to select tickets, dates and times and enter their personal details.

The filing alleges Peek’s conduct has violated New York’s Arts and Cultural Affairs Law, which requires ticketing platforms to fully disclose the total price of a ticket, including any extra charges, before the ticket is selected for purchase. The law also bars a company from raising a ticket’s price during the checkout process and requires the business to clearly delineate what part of the cost represents a service fee, the lawsuit explains.

The plaintiff, a New York resident, says she was originally quoted a fee-less price of $41 per ticket when she visited ColorFactory.co, whose purchase flow, like other venues’ websites, is “powered by Peek.com.”

As the case tells it, only once the plaintiff arrived at the final checkout page was she informed of an additional $8.99 fee, which was displayed for the first time above an increased total cost and below an eight-minute timer in the top-right corner of the screen. The complaint contends that Peek “masked” the charge under the vague title “Taxes & Fees” and did not explain the nature or purpose of the added fee.

The suit also takes issue with Peek’s use of a countdown timer on ColorFactory.co and other venues’ websites that integrate its services.

“Because New York is a busy place, and because these ‘taxes & fees’ are only flashed after a consumer selects her ticket, [Peek] can plausibly put its consumers on a shot clock and tell them they need to act quick, because [Peek] and these places of entertainment cannot hold their admission time slot open forever,” the case contests. “This cheap trick has enabled [the defendant] to swindle substantial sums of money from its customers.”

The Peek Travel undisclosed ticket fees lawsuit looks to represent anyone in the United States who, since August 29, 2022, purchased tickets to a New York entertainment venue that used screens that were “powered by Peek.com” or otherwise created in part by the defendant.

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