Understanding E-Contracts - A Case Study of Ticketweb.com

TicketWeb.com (www.ticketweb.com) is an online subsidiary of Ticket Master. They sell tickets for a variety of events at different venues. In addition to ticket sales, they also have an online community that allows members to share information with each other. The tickets that were purchased were for Thomas the Tank Engine in Strasburg, PA. TicketWeb.com is the only online provider of tickets for this event, therefore you have to agree to their terms and conditions in order to pre-purchase your tickets to ensure a ride on Thomas.

This paper will focus on the terms and conditions of the e-contract that was entered into when purchasing these tickets. It will discuss how the contract was executed and accepted by both parties, jurisdiction, indemnity, liability, and the TicketWeb.com privacy policy. Suggestions for possible additions and modifications will be included to improve the contract.

TicketWeb.com has the full terms and conditions of the sale broken in approximately three places on their website. The first conditions of the sale are presented to the customer in the sales screens and must be agreed to in order to proceed with the order. The second place on the site is under a link to the terms and conditions page and this is where the bulk of the sales contract is located. The third place is in the refund and will call policy page. This area highlights refunds from TicketWeb and when they can be received. The fourth area of the site is the privacy policy. You must agree to their privacy policy in order to purchase tickets from this site.

Contract Execution and Acceptance

The contract is executed via an online website and the offer is made to purchase tickets for a set monetary amount. Acceptance of the occurs after credit card information is entered and the user verifies their order and clicks on the "Place Your Order" button. At that time, payment is due and verified and the tickets being purchased are reserved for the customer. Based on the option chosen, the tickets will either be mailed to the customer or they will be held at the "Will Call" area of the event for pickup. After the payment is verified, TicketWeb issues a confirmation number along with a receipt of purchase that they request the customer to print and keep.

According to chapter 3 of our text: "The com on law theory of contracts presupposes that an offeror manifests (1)intent to make an offer,(2)that contains certain terms that are reasonably definite and (3)that the offer is communicated to the offeree.." (Buamer-Poindexter, 2001). The book then goes on to bring up the difficulties in determining the intent to make the offer because so much of the transactions can be conducted automatically. For purchasing tickets online, the company shows intent by listing the tickets for sale. In the case of TicketWeb, it is the buyer's responsibility to click on a button titled "Place Your Order". This constitutes acceptance of the offer and agreement for TicketWeb to charge the consumer's credit card, completing the exchange of money.

Jurisdiction

In the Terms and Conditions, TicketWeb.com has the following statement listed under the section titled Disputes with TicketWeb:

If there is any dispute about or involving the Site, by using the Site, you agree that the dispute will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California without regard to its conflict of law provision. You agree to personal jurisdiction by and venue in the state and federal courts located in Northern California. (www.ticketweb.com)

This statement of jurisdiction allows TicketWeb.com to choose the venue in which they have personal jurisdiction. According to American Eyewear, Inc. v. Peeper's Sunglasses and Accessories, Inc., the court commented that PI could have avoided personal jurisdiction if their agreement had contained a choice of venue clause. (Golod, et Al, 2002).

Indemnity

As the last paragraph in their Terms and Conditions, TicketWeb.com has a section titled Indemnity. In this section, the purchaser agrees to hold TicketWeb.com and all of its constituents harmless of any loss, etc. The section reads in part:

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless TicketWeb and all of its officers, directors, owners, agents, employees, information providers, licensors and licensees from any loss, liability, claim, or demand, including but not limited to attorney's fees and costs, due to arising out of your use of the Site or your breach of this agreement, including also your use of the Site to provide a link to another site or to upload content or other information to the Site. (www.ticketweb.com)

This section is limiting any damages due the customer to only the price of the ticket purchased from the site. Any other expenses that might be incurred are not the responsibility of TicketWeb and they will not be legally responsible for these costs.

In an earlier section of the terms and conditions, TicketWeb has a number of disclaimers that are listed. Among these disclaimers are similar statements to the indemnity clause. The disclaimers mainly state that TicketWeb is not responsible for errors on the site that may be caused by themselves or others and that they are not responsible if the site is unavailable at times.

Ticket Purchase Policy

The section of the terms and conditions titled Ticket Purchase Policy is by far the longest section of the policy. In order to attract user attention to certain areas, all capital lettering was used in these areas. In this purchase policy, there are several mentions to the policy and then it is further conditioned by the phrase "subject to applicable law".

In the policy, if the event that you purchase tickets for is cancelled or rescheduled TicketWeb does not have to issue refund if you are "given the opportunity, within 6 months of the date of the original event, to attend a rescheduled performance of the same event or to exchange this ticket for another ticket comparable in price and location, to another similar event as designated by management, except as otherwise provided by law". The policy goes to on to state that the refund or exchange is conditional upon them being electronically notified within 24 hours of the event being cancelled or rescheduled that you intend to do it, and they receive the original tickets (in good condition) within 30 days or 24 hours of the newly scheduled event. This section of the policy is in direct conflict with a statement on the web page right above the "Place your Order" button. Just above this button in bold and capital lettering is the statement: "All sales are final. No refunds or exchanges." (http://www.ticketweb.com/user/penn/order/authorize, 2004). At the same time this policy is also in direct conflict with the Refund policy listed on the refund page. That policy states that a refund can be received by notifying them at least 24 before the start of a rescheduled event, it does not mention that they must be notified within 24 hours of the event being scheduled.

The policy also goes on to state that even if you have a valid ticket, you can be refused entry into an event if the ticket is damaged or your conduct is deemed unacceptable by the venue. The policy also states that if you unlawfully try to sell the ticket after purchasing it, the tickets can be confiscated and cancelled without any refunds. It also goes states that you are not allowed to take pictures, video, etc. and that if the event is broadcast your picture may be used.

Privacy Policy

TicketWeb.com has a disturbing privacy policy in that you cannot stop them from releasing your email and contact information to the sponsor's of the event that you are purchasing tickets for. However, there is no link to the sponsor's website that will detail their privacy policy, so you do not have a clear understanding of how your information is going to be used. This is stated on the Review screen before you click to place you order. Per the statement, the information can be shared with venues, teams, artists, promoters, and leagues. In addition, the statement points out that these third parties may contact you by email or other means to send marketing or other information or disclose your information in other ways. It states that you should contact them directly to learn about their policies. In the case of the Thomas the Tank Engine show, this would mean visiting at least two other web sites to find this information and review it (Strasburg Railroad that hosts the show and the Thomas show people). To complicate the matter, TicketWeb puts a 15 minute timer on your transaction from when you first select the tickets to when you have to complete the transaction. This really does not allow enough time to review everything and most consumers will not go to the other sites to see how the information might be used.

Additions or Modifications

A major problem that needs clarified on TicketWeb's website is their refund policy. There are three places that mention refunds, with one stating No Refunds, one stating refunds if the event is cancelled or rescheduled and the consumer meets certain criteria, and one that states refunds are given for rescheduled or cancelled events. From the wording on the sale page, it would be expected that no refunds will be given. However, the terms and conditions specify that refunds may be given in certain circumstances as long as the consumer performs certain actions within a certain amount of time. To improve the e-contract, the refund policy needs to be revised to be more concise and not contradict itself. As it currently stands, a consumer would stand a fair chance of receiving their refund through the court systems if it would come to that.

A second improvement to the e-contract needs to be a revision of the privacy policy. This policy is open ended and allows for extensive sharing of personal information to a variety of persons that may be involved in an event. The policy states that the information may be shared and to refer to these other parties sites to see how the information might be used. However, most consumers will not know who all these various parties might be that their information could be shared with. TicketWeb should limit the amount of persons they provide the information to and assist their customers with who the various people actually are that are receiving this information.

Conclusion

TicketWeb.com, an online provider of tickets to special events allows customers the ability to purchase tickets online, avoiding the need to travel to ticket agents and allowing the consumer to purchase tickets from the convenience of their homes. Being an online retailer, TicketWeb has an extensive e-contract that covers all the important aspects of contract law. Their contract is spread over approximately four separate areas on the website, with some of the information on the web pages leading to the sale, some in the Terms and Conditions section, some in the Privacy section, and some in the Refund and Will Call section. When completing the transaction, the consumer is agreeing to all of the terms and conditions set in all of these areas. However, in the area of Refunds, TicketWeb has conflicting statements and needs to revise their site to reconcile these conflicting statements. It is also recommended that they revise their privacy policy to limit the number of parties they share the information with. The privacy policy should also make it easier to know exactly who these parties might be. For the most part, TicketWeb.com has a very thorough e-contract and will have very limited risks of lawsuits because of it.

References:

Baumer−Poindexter:, . (2001). Cyberlaw and e-commerce. : McGraw-Hill Companies.

Katz Golod, L., et al. (2002). Taxation of electronic commerceJournal of Multistate Taxation and Incentives, 12(5), 10, 18. Retrieved Oct 13, 2004, from