Draft. This document is not final and is not yet in effect.
Terms of Service
Effective date: [EFFECTIVE DATE]
These terms apply when you buy, receive or use a ticket sold through cutthroat, and when you use cutthroat.tickets or an organiser’s ticket site that runs on it. “cutthroat”, “we” and “us” mean Cutthroat Tickets, Inc., a California corporation.
Please read them. Section 16 says that most disputes with us are settled by individual arbitration, not in court and not as part of a class action. You can opt out within 30 days.
By buying a ticket, accepting a ticket someone sent you, or using the site, you agree to these terms, the Refund Policy and the Acceptable Use and Copyright Policy. Our Privacy Policy explains how your information is handled.
1. Who does what
1.1 Organisers are the bars, promoters, venues and other businesses that put on events and sell tickets to them.
1.2 cutthroat provides the software organisers use to list events, sell tickets and check people in. Many ticket sites that run on cutthroat carry the organiser’s own name and web address, with a “Ticketing by cutthroat” credit.
2. The organiser is the seller
2.1 When you buy a ticket, you are buying it from the organiser named on the event page and at checkout. Your contract for the ticket and the event is with that organiser.
2.2 Your payment goes directly to the organiser through the organiser’s own payment processor (for example Square or Stripe). The organiser’s name appears on your card statement. cutthroat does not receive or hold your ticket money; we receive only a small per-ticket fee, which is already included in the price you were shown.
2.3 We sell tickets on the organiser’s behalf under a written contract with the organiser. We are not the organiser, promoter or venue. The organiser alone is responsible for the event: whether it happens, what it is like, who is admitted, and its safety.
2.4 The organiser decides the price, the refund policy, the age limit and the rules of entry. They are shown on the event page before you buy.
3. Prices and fees
3.1 The price you see is the price you pay. Every ticket price we show is the total price, including all mandatory fees. A breakdown of what makes up the price is available before you pay.
3.2 If a government tax applies, it is shown before you pay.
3.3 Prices are in US dollars unless the page says otherwise. Organisers can change prices for future sales; a change never affects an order you have already paid for.
4. Buying tickets
4.1 You do not need an account or an app. We ask for your name and email address. A phone number is optional.
4.2 Give an email address you can read. Your tickets are sent there. If you mistype it, contact the organiser straight away.
4.3 While you check out, your tickets are held for a limited time, shown on screen. If the time runs out before you pay, the tickets are released and nothing is charged.
4.4 Your order is complete when your payment is approved and you see the confirmation. If a payment fails, no ticket is issued.
4.5 Organisers can set a limit on how many tickets one person or one order may buy. You agree to respect those limits.
4.6 You must be old enough to enter into a contract, or have a parent or guardian buy for you.
4.7 If a price or listing is plainly wrong because of a mistake, the organiser may cancel the order and refund you in full.
5. Your ticket is a licence
5.1 A ticket is a revocable licence to attend the event it names, for the session it names. It is not property, and it gives you no right beyond admission on the organiser’s terms.
5.2 The organiser or venue may refuse entry or ask you to leave if you break the event’s rules, the venue’s rules, these terms or the law. Where that happens because of your conduct, you may not be entitled to a refund. Nothing in this section takes away a refund the law gives you.
5.3 Age and ID. Many events are for people 18 or over, or 21 or over. Bring valid government photo ID. If you cannot show you meet the age limit, you can be refused entry without a refund.
5.4 One entry per ticket. Each ticket admits one person once per session. The first scan counts. Keep your ticket private: if someone else uses it first, you may not get in.
5.5 Live codes. The code on a web ticket changes every 30 seconds, so a screenshot or a photo of it will usually not work at the door. Open your ticket link or wallet pass on your phone.
5.6 A ticket obtained by fraud, with a stolen card, or in breach of these terms can be cancelled.
6. How you get your tickets
6.1 We email you a confirmation with a link to your order and to each ticket. Some events also offer Apple Wallet or Google Wallet passes.
6.2 You can have your tickets sent again from your order page, or get a sign-in link by email to see all your orders. Anyone who has your order or ticket link can open it, so do not share those links with people you do not want to have your tickets.
6.3 We do not post paper tickets.
7. Refunds, cancellations and changes
7.1 The organiser sets the refund policy for each event, and California law sets a minimum. The details are in the Refund Policy. In short:
- if an event is cancelled, you are entitled to a full refund of what you paid, including fees;
- if an event is postponed, rescheduled or moved, you can ask the organiser for a refund;
- otherwise, refunds depend on the organiser’s policy shown on the event page and at checkout.
7.2 Refunds are paid by the organiser, from the organiser’s account, to the payment method you used. cutthroat cannot pay a refund from its own funds because it never received your ticket money.
7.3 Line-ups, set times and details can change. Unless the law or the organiser’s policy says so, a change that is not a cancellation, postponement or move does not entitle you to a refund.
8. Sending a ticket to someone else
8.1 Unless the organiser has turned transfers off for an event, you can send a ticket to another person from your order page, free of charge.
8.2 You enter their email address; they get a link and have 72 hours to accept. Until they accept, you can withdraw the offer. Transfers close before doors, at a cut-off the organiser sets (usually 60 minutes before the first session).
8.3 When a transfer is accepted, your ticket stops working and a new ticket is issued to the new holder. This cannot be undone by us. The new holder agrees to these terms by accepting.
8.4 A transfer moves the ticket, not the payment. If a refund is later due on a transferred ticket, it goes to the original buyer’s payment method, not to the person holding the ticket.
8.5 You cannot refund a ticket yourself while a transfer offer for it is open. Withdraw the offer first.
9. No resale through cutthroat
9.1 We do not run a resale marketplace. The only way to pass on a ticket through cutthroat is the free transfer in section 8.
9.2 Tickets are sold for personal use. You may not buy tickets in order to resell them, or resell or offer them for resale as a business, or use them in a promotion or contest, without the organiser’s written permission.
9.3 Tickets resold or offered in breach of this section may be cancelled. Tickets bought from anyone other than the organiser are bought at your own risk: we cannot tell you whether they are genuine or still valid.
10. Fair buying: no bots
10.1 You may not use bots, scripts or any automated tool to search for, hold or buy tickets.
10.2 You may not get around, or try to get around, purchase limits, queues, waiting rooms, security checks or any other measure that keeps sales fair. That includes using multiple names, email addresses, cards or devices to exceed a limit.
10.3 Doing so is also against US federal law (the Better Online Ticket Sales Act). Orders placed in breach of this section may be cancelled, and we keep records that can be given to organisers and to the authorities.
11. Emails and texts
11.1 Emails about your order. When you buy or receive a ticket, you will get emails about it: confirmation, tickets, transfers, refunds and important changes to the event. They are part of the service, and you will get them whether or not you agree to marketing.
11.2 An unfinished order. If you enter your email address at checkout and do not finish, the organiser may send you one reminder about that order.
11.3 Marketing email. You get marketing email from an organiser, or from cutthroat, only if you chose to. Every marketing email has an unsubscribe link, and you can use it at any time.
11.4 Text messages. We do not send text messages at this time. If texting is offered later, you will get marketing texts only if you gave your mobile number and separately agreed to them. Agreeing is never a condition of buying. Message and data rates may apply. You will be able to reply STOP to stop and HELP for help.
12. Using the site
You agree to follow the Acceptable Use and Copyright Policy. In short: use the site only to find events and to buy and manage your own tickets; do not misuse it, attack it, scrape it or pretend to be someone else.
13. Disputing a charge
13.1 If something is wrong with a charge, contact the organiser first. Their support address is on your confirmation email and order page. Most problems are fixed fastest that way.
13.2 If you dispute a charge with your card issuer, the organiser may cancel the tickets on that order while the dispute is open.
14. At the event
14.1 The organiser and the venue run the event and set its rules, including rules on photography, recording, bags, re-entry and behaviour. Follow them.
14.2 You attend at your own risk to the extent the law allows. Events can be loud and crowded, and may include strobe lighting and adult content.
14.3 The organiser may photograph or record the event. The organiser’s own terms, shown on the event page, say how that material is used.
15. Our responsibility to you
15.1 We provide the site and the ticketing service “as is” and “as available”. We do not promise they will always be available or free of errors. To the extent the law allows, we disclaim all implied warranties.
15.2 We are not responsible for the organiser’s acts or omissions, for the event itself, or for anything that happens at it.
15.3 To the extent the law allows, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive loss, or for lost profits, and our total liability to you for everything arising from these terms or the service is limited to the greater of (a) the amount you paid for the tickets in the order your claim is about and (b) $100.
15.4 Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law, or takes away a right that California law says a consumer cannot give up.
16. Disputes with cutthroat: arbitration and class-action waiver
16.1 What this section covers. This section applies to disputes between you and cutthroat. It does not apply to your dispute with an organiser, which is between you and them.
16.2 Talk to us first. Before starting any claim, email legal@cutthroat.tickets with your name, how to reach you, what the problem is and what you want. We will do the same if we have a claim against you. Each side will try in good faith to settle it for 60 days.
16.3 Arbitration. If we cannot settle it, you and we agree that the dispute will be decided by binding individual arbitration, not by a judge or jury in court. The arbitration will be run by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules. It can take place by phone, video or written submissions, or in person in the county where you live. We will pay the arbitration fees the rules say a business must pay. The arbitrator can award any remedy a court could award you individually. The Federal Arbitration Act governs this section.
16.4 Exceptions. Either side may instead bring an individual claim in small-claims court if it qualifies. Either side may go to court to stop infringement or misuse of intellectual property. Nothing here stops you from asking a court for a public injunction, where the law gives you that right; that claim will be heard in court after the arbitration of any other claims.
16.5 No class actions. You and we agree that claims will be brought only on an individual basis, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any class, collective or representative action. The arbitrator may not combine more than one person’s claims. If this paragraph is found unenforceable for a particular claim, that claim (and only that claim) will be decided in court.
16.6 You can opt out. You can opt out of this section by emailing legal@cutthroat.tickets within 30 days of first agreeing to these terms. Give your name, the email address you used, and a clear statement that you opt out of arbitration. Opting out does not affect any other part of these terms.
16.7 If you opt out, or if this section is found not to apply, disputes will be decided by the state or federal courts located in Riverside County, California, unless the law gives you the right to sue where you live.
17. Governing law
California law governs these terms, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules.
18. Changes to these terms
We may update these terms. The date at the top shows when they last changed. The terms in force when you bought a ticket apply to that order. If a change is significant, we will say so on this page before it takes effect.
19. General
If a court finds part of these terms unenforceable, the rest still applies. Not enforcing a right once does not waive it. You may not transfer your rights under these terms, except by transferring a ticket as section 8 allows. We may transfer ours to a company that takes over our business.
20. Contact
- Questions about an event, your tickets or a refund: contact the organiser. Their address is on your confirmation email and order page.
- Questions about the site or these terms: support@cutthroat.tickets
- Legal notices: legal@cutthroat.tickets, or by post to Cutthroat Tickets, Inc., [MAILING ADDRESS]