Lawsuit Claims Windham Mountain Club ‘Ambushes’ Online Customers with Hidden Fees for Ski Lift Tickets

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A proposed class action alleges Windham Mountain Club has “nickel and [dimed]” first-time skiers by surprising them with a $5 “Axess Media Only” fee upon checkout when buying a ski lift ticket online. 

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The 15-page lawsuit accuses Windham Mountain Club Property Owners Association of violating the New York Arts and Cultural Affairs Law by effectively “ambush[ing]” online ski lift ticket buyers with hidden fees. 

According to the complaint, New York’s Arts and Cultural Affairs Law requires any entity that operates a “place of entertainment” to disclose the total cost of a ticket, including “all ancillary fees that must be paid in order to purchase the ticket.” Moreover, the law requires the disclosure of the total cost and fees to be displayed in the ticket listing prior to the ticket being selected for purchase, and the price of the ticket may not increase during the buying process, the suit states. 

“This cheap trick has enabled Defendant to swindle substantial sums of money from its customers,” the case alleges. 

The filing relays that after a consumer clicks the “Get Your Tickets” button on WindhamMountainClub.com to buy a ski lift ticket, they are taken to another page that displays dates and prices for lift tickets. The total cost of lift tickets, inclusive of all ancillary fees, is not displayed on this page, in violation of New York law, the case states. 

Upon selecting their desired lift ticket, the purchaser is taken to yet another page where, again, the total cost with fees is not displayed, the lawsuit says. Per the case, it’s only after logging into or creating a new Windham Mountain account that a consumer is notified that they must buy a Windham RFID card for $5, which is listed in the final price rundown as an “Axess Media Only” fee. 

“This is the very first time that Defendant’s ancillary fee is disclosed to the consumer,” the suit stresses. 

From there, the total cost of the consumer’s purchase is displayed “for the first and only time” during the buying process on the final payment screen, the case says. 

The proposed class action lawsuit looks to cover all consumers in the United States who bought lift tickets to Windham Mountain from WindhamMountainClub.com on or after August 29, 2022 and were charged an “Axess Media Only” fee or any other ancillary fee. 

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