Coachella ticket payment plan leads to proposed class-action lawsuit

A proposed class-action lawsuit alleges the companies behind Coachella and other music festivals offer ticket payment plans that require would-be concert goers to forfeit everything they’ve paid toward the purchase of tickets if they are more than 10 days late on a single payment.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court. A festival representative could not be immediately reached for comment.

The complaint states that lead plaintiff Abigail Drake bought two tickets and a camping pass for the first weekend of the Coachella Music Festival for $850, using the festival’s payment plan option.

After timely making four payments for a total of about $618, fraudulent charges appeared on Drake’s credit card, causing her bank to issue a new one, the suit states.

But unknown to Drake, the next payment on her Coachella payment plan was refused as a result of the new card number, the suit alleges. She did not realize what had happened until she contacted Coachella Festival management to find out when her festival tickets would be arriving, the suit states.

She was told that due to the failed payment, her tickets along with the money paid toward them was forfeited, the suit states.

Coachella ticket employees then resold Drake’s tickets for full value for the sold-out event, the suit alleges.

The lawsuit seeks the return of the lost money and an injunction stopping the alleged forfeiture practice.

— City News Service