Ticketmaster must repay U.S. Springsteen fans

Ticketmaster has been ordered to repay 1,108 consumers who paid well above the face value for Bruce Springsteen concert tickets after being redirected online to Ticketmaster affiliate, TicketsNow.

The repayment only applies to U.S. consumers who purchased tickets to one of 14 shows by Springsteen.

According to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, Ticketmaster used deceptive bait and switch tactics to sell tickets.

In February, the FTC received complaints that consumers who had logged onto the Ticketmaster site were automatically redirected to TicketsNow, a resale site where tickets are sold at many times their face value.

Consumers will be repaid the difference between what they paid, and the actual face value of the tickets. The ticket controversy erupted in 2009 over the sale of Springsteen tickets. The New Jersey rocker himself blasted the company for its practices saying he was "furious" and that the redirect was an "abuse" of his fans.

Not an isolated incident

At the time, Ticketmaster blamed a software glitch and apologized to ticket buyers. It also paid the State of New Jersey $350,000 to defray the cost of investigating the incident.

Consumers have been complaining about the TicketsNow site since Ticketmaster bought out its rival in February 2008 for $265 million.

Canadian fans were left complaining when $44 tickets to a Killers concert in Toronto went for $1,199, a 2,500 per cent markup.

Ticketmaster gets a slice of the increased price from tickets sold on TicketsNow, in effect giving the company two sets of service charges from each ticket sold and then resold.