Concert attendees are all too familiar with the frustration of drip pricing, especially when faced with unforeseen service, facility, and processing fees while purchasing tickets for an Ed Sheeran concert through Ticketmaster or Livenation.
These so-called ‘junk fees’ have faced a partial crackdown in the US, while Prime Minister Riski Sunak has pledged to mirror US President Joe Biden’s successful ‘Junk Fee Bill’ in the UK.
Now, the British rail regulator the Office of Road and Rail (ORR) has joined the fight against these annoyingly unexpected junk charges, writing to seven third-party train ticket sellers to raise concerns about the lack of transparency in their pricing.
It follows a review of ticketing websites and apps of 19 third-party ticket retailers (TPRs).
Twelve of the 19 TPRs were found to charge booking fees, and seven of these did not include their fees in the upfront price.
ORR’s review found that booking fees ranged from £0.45 per ticket to £6.45 per transaction, with finders’ between 10-15% of the savings made on a split ticket.
Consumer law principles contend that booking and finder’s fees should be displayed in the upfront price of a ticket.
“Where mandatory fees are not included in the upfront price consumers are at risk of paying more than they expected because of the effects of drip pricing,” stated the review.
Stephanie Tobyn, director of strategy, policy and reform at the ORR, commented: "Consumers can now purchase rail tickets from a wide variety of websites and apps. This report highlights that some online retailers are not as transparent as they need to be when it comes to how they display or provide information on additional fees.
"We want to ensure consumers are provided with timely and relevant information when making purchase decisions and that drip pricing does not undermine consumer confidence when purchasing rail tickets online."