Top EU court says vouchers can suffice after Covid concert cancellations

LUXEMBOURG (CN) — The EU’s top court sided with a German ticket seller on Thursday, finding a woman who wanted a refund for a canceled concert was only entitled to a voucher. 

The European Court of Justice found that because the event company CTS Eventim not legally required to provide a full refund to a woman who purchased tickets for a March 2020 concert canceled because of Covid-19 because the company offered her voucher to a future event.

According to the Luxembourg-based court, under the 2011 Consumer Rights Directive, the cost of canceled events’ tickets purchased through intermediaries, like the Bremen-based Eventim, do not have to be refunded since Eventim was not itself organizing the show. 

The woman, who was identified in court documents as D.M., bought tickets to a concert of German singer Peter Maffay in Brunswick, Germany, for March 24, 2022. The day before the concert, the country went into a nationwide lockdown, banning gatherings, closing restaurants and canceling all events. Eventim gave D.M. a voucher to be used to purchase tickets to another event in the future. 

Unhappy with the voucher, she requested a refund of the 207.90 euros ($231) she had paid for four tickets. Eventim refused, ultimately arguing before the Amtsgericht Bremen — the District Court of Bremen — that EU regulations requiring refunds don’t apply to third parties because they are only providing access to a service, not the service itself. The Bremen court referred the matter to the Court of Justice, asking it to clarify whether the EU regulation applied to an intermediary. 

The three-judge panel agreed with Eventim, concluding that there was an inherent risk in reallocating reserved seats if customers changed their minds. This risk was especially true of “cultural or sporting events,” the court wrote. 

All however is not lost for D.M., the ticket holder. A change to German law in response to the pandemic allows vouchers issued for pandemic-related cancelations that were still unused as of Dec. 31, 2021, to be redeemed for a refund. 

The pandemic had a devastating impact on live events, with thousands of concerts, sporting events and other performances canceled during lockdowns. The Summer Olympics was pushed back, pop star Justin Bieber canceled all of his 2020 tour dates and the music, tech and film festival SXSW in Austin was canceled for the first time in its 30-year history. Experts estimate that billions of revenue was lost. 

The case will now return to the court in Bremen for a final decision. 

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