In a press release this morning, the Office of Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced that it would file a consumer protection lawsuit against ticket vendor SBTickets for "deceptive business practices." The Attorney General's Office previously received 24 complaints from SBTickets.com customers after the company announced just before the Super Bowl that they would be unable to provide the "100% guaranteed" tickets they had advertised online. This was after customers had already paid between $1,875 and $3,500 per ticket.
The lawsuit filed by the state demands that the company not only reimburse customers for ticket costs, but also for travel and lodging expenses. Moreover, the company could face a penalty of $2,000 per ticket.
While it seems unlikely SBTickets.com will survive the lawsuit unscathed, the incident is also a lesson to customers: If a website claims "no tricks or gimmicks", it's likely there's something fishy going on.
Ironically, the site is already selling tickets for the next Super Bowl.
