New York City’s Museum of Sex Facing Class Action Over Allegedly Unlawful Online Ticket Service Charge

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

A proposed class action claims the Museum of Sex has violated New York law by failing to include a $4 “service charge” in the stated total cost of an admission ticket at the beginning of the online purchase process.

Want to stay in the loop on class actions that matter to you? Sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter here.

According to the 15-page lawsuit, the New York City museum has run afoul of the state’s Arts and Cultural Affairs Law, which requires operators of places of entertainment to disclose the total cost of a ticket, including any added fees, before the ticket is selected for purchase. Per the suit, the law also prohibits such companies from increasing ticket prices during the checkout process and requires them to clearly and conspicuously display the portion of the cost that constitutes a service charge.

The case contends that in violation of state law, the museum “ambush[es]” consumers with the $4 added charge—which is hidden in the category “Taxes & Fees”—at online checkout, only after they have navigated through several pages required to make a purchase.

An individual buying an admission ticket on MuseumOfSex.com is first taken to a screen listing various ticket prices, the complaint says. Rather than displaying the total cost including fees, as required by law, the page lists only a ticket’s starting price, the filing shares.

Only after clicking through subsequent pages to select a visit date and entry time does the consumer arrive at the final checkout screen, where the now-increased total cost is shown above a $7.55 charge for “Taxes & Fees,” the lawsuit describes. The $4 service fee secretly included in the price is only revealed if the website visitor clicks on the question mark icon next to the “Taxes & Fees” heading, the suit notes.

“This is the first and only time that [the defendant’s] $4 per ticket ‘service charge’ is displayed to the consumer,” the case says.

The complaint adds that on the final checkout page, a four-minute timer counts down a visitor’s time to complete the transaction.

“Because New York is a busy place, and because these fees are only flashed after a museum-goer selects her ticket, and if and only if a museum-goer clicks the question mark icon next to ‘taxes & fees,’ [the Museum of Sex] can plausibly put its consumers on a shot clock and tell them they need to act quick, because [the defendant] cannot hold their spot admission time open forever,” the filing charges. “This cheap trick has enabled [the defendant] to swindle substantial sums of money from its customers.”

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone in the United States who purchased tickets to the Museum of Sex in New York City from MuseumOfSex.com since August 29, 2022.

Get class action lawsuit news sent to your inbox – sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter here.