Is A Ticket A Contract?

Yesterday, commenter Lee Saylor asked a question about foul weather and refunds on a post I did a couple weeks ago regarding that subject.

He noted that like many performing arts organizations, the no-refund policy was on the back of the ticket. That raised an interesting topic I wanted to discuss.

When I was first starting out my career, I was told that a ticket was a contract with the audience member and that the policies on the back were the terms of the contract. If I recall correctly this was to support the idea that if someone purchased a ticket, they had the right not to appear and we had to hold the empty seat for them.

However, I believe it was just last week that someone pointed out to me that it can’t be a contract because you receive the terms after you have made the purchase. That made sense to me because it wouldn’t be fair to a consumer to find out they were bound to certain conditions they were unaware of prior to their purchase.

EXCEPT, that is exactly what happens when you buy software. You don’t learn about the terms of service (TOS) until after you have purchased the software and start to install it. Back when software came on discs, there was a big outcry because if you broke the seal on the envelop it came in the company wouldn’t issue a refund if you didn’t like it or it didn’t work on your computer system.

At the time they were concerned people were copying the discs and returning them. These days I am not sure if software companies will refund you if you actually read the TOS and say you don’t agree and want your money back.

Refunds aside, like buying a ticket, you don’t learn the details of the TOS until after you have made the purchase. (Contrast with buying airline tickets where they encourage you to read their contract of carriage prior to completing your transaction.) So my question is, are they contracts? Does the timing of when you receive the terms determine whether they constitute a contract or not?

Do any lawyers or people who play them on stage or TV have any idea?

Now whether it is a contract or not doesn’t disqualify what is written on the back of your tickets as a statement of policy or rules that will govern the transaction should the person seek to redeem it for a performance.

Whether that will protect you against a legal claim is another issue entirely.

About Joe Patti

I have been writing Butts in the Seats (BitS) on topics of arts and cultural administration since 2004 (yikes!). Given the ever evolving concerns facing the sector, I have yet to exhaust the available subject matter. In addition to BitS, I am a founding contributor to the ArtsHacker (artshacker.com) website where I focus on topics related to boards, law, governance, policy and practice.

I am also an evangelist for the effort to Build Public Will For Arts and Culture being helmed by Arts Midwest and the Metropolitan Group. (http://www.creatingconnection.org/about/)

My most recent role was as Executive Director of the Grand Opera House in Macon, GA.

Among the things I am most proud are having produced an opera in the Hawaiian language and a dance drama about Hawaii's snow goddess Poli'ahu while working as a Theater Manager in Hawaii. Though there are many more highlights than there is space here to list.

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3 thoughts on “Is A Ticket A Contract?”

  1. There appears to be a trend in the articles I have skimmed that says that the contract is effective provided there is an action of assent (such as clicking on the “I agree to the terms” box during an online purchase) and that this is usually enforceable even if the customer claims they did not actually read the terms. The act of assent is what activates the contract. In most ticket purchases that occur in person there is no assent requested or required.

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  2. The purchaser has an opportunity to examine the ticket (to check times and dates, etc.) when they purchase the ticket. If they are not correct, they have an opportunity to get it corrected at time of purchase. It should not take any stretch of imagination that they read both sides of the ticket. Check your cinema stubs, they have the same information. I felt that our policies at that time (I no longer work there) were generous. You could exchange tickets for another performance of the same show without penalty, and if you decided that you could not attend, you could turn your tickets in before the show for a tax deductible donation receipt of the value of the ticket. If you did not turn in or exchange your ticket, that seat was held for you, even you didn’t show up until after intermission.

    Also on the tickets was a statement that ‘Babes in arms’ must have a ticket.
    (The technical detail for that requirement is that if the fire marshall says that the capacity is 300, it includes everyone, regardless of their age.)

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