Seattle arena must pay $477K after charging hidden fees

Monique Merrill

SEATTLE (CN) — Those who have attended events at Seattle's Climate Pledge Arena could soon see a refund coming their way after an investigation by Bob Ferguson, Washington State's Democratic attorney general, found the venue had charged undisclosed service fees in violation of state law.

“Washington law is simple: If you charge a fee, you must clearly disclose that fee before someone pays it,” Ferguson said in a statement. “Climate Pledge was not doing that. Now they are paying the price.”

Between Feb. 27 and July 22 of last year, customers buying food and beverages at the cash-free venue were subjected to an additional 3% fee on their transactions. The fee was not disclosed unless the customers asked for a receipt.

Those fees ran afoul of Washington’s Consumer Protection Act, which requires companies to clearly disclose added charges and fees. According to Ferguson's investigation, the arena brought in $162,917.16 in hidden charges from 183,000 transactions at 37 events.

As part of the AG's conditions, Climate Pledge Arena must, pending court approval, resolve a private class action brought by consumers in an effort to recoup those fees. Under the agreement, eligible claimants will see a refund for the full fee amount they paid, plus an additional $10 each for the inconvenience and loss of their money. The arena must also pay the state AG's office $315,000 to cover court costs and future enforcement work.

Located just north of downtown Seattle, Climate Pledge Arena is home to several sports teams, including Seattle’s hockey and women’s basketball teams. The venue also hosts large events like concerts and has capacity for around 18,000 people.

An arena attendee first sued in King County last October, accusing the venue of failing to inform him of the additional fee and not providing a receipt.

Others soon joined the case. After local news station KIRO reported on the fee last July, Ferguson also opened an investigation. (The arena stopped tacking on the 3% fee after the story broke and currently has a court order preventing it from adding further undisclosed charges.)

This is not the first time Ferguson has gone after companies for violating the state’s Consumer Protection Act. In December 2019, he fined CenturyLink $6.1 million after it failed to provide promised discounts to customers and added undisclosed charges to customer bills.

The following year, Frontier Communications Northwest was also forced to pay $900,000 after an AG investigation revealed the company misled its subscribers about available internet speeds and did not include information about fees in its advertising and sale documents. In total, Ferguson's office has collected more than $9.6 million from companies caught charging undisclosed fees.