I am trying to purchase tickets for an event with my American Express card. Due to privacy and id theft concerns, I do not give out my address or telephone number on the Internet unless I am purchasing something to be shipped to me.
NJ law (NJSA 56:11-17) prohibits any business from collecting a person's address or telephone number when purchasing items with a credit card. The only exception that allows them to ask for an address is when the address is necessary because you are having something shipped to you. The tickets being sold by TicketWeb for this event are paperless and "will call" so nothing needs to be sent, therefore they do not need my address or telephone number.
They refused to budge. At first, they claimed that the billing address was required by the credit card company. That's another exception to the law. I checked with American Express and they have no such policy. Then TicketWeb claimed that it was "for my protection". That's nonsense. If someone breaks into their database (and it's happened with other companies) then the thief would have my credit card number, my address, and my telephone number and it would be EASIER to fake my identity. I checked with local police and confirmed that they recommend not giving out an address or telephone number unless it's necessary.
I have talked to several people at TicketWeb over email and the telephone and they have refused to remove the requirement even though they are breaking the law. One representative said that it doesn't matter if they are breaking the law or not, they're not going to process the sale without the address.
In my opinion, this callous disregard for the law, and the privacy of consumers makes me very reluctant to ever buy a ticket through TicketMaster or TicketWeb.
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