The ‘in demand’ prices may have breached consumer law
Oasis and Ticketmaster have been urged to refund fans who paid inflated prices for tickets to their reunion tour next summer.
After queueing for hours to try and get tickets for UK and Ireland tour, many fans were left aghast when they finally got to the front of the queue on Ticketmaster. They found tickets were only available at much higher prices than they had been when they first went on sale that day, due to Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing model.
Many were only given the option of purchasing ‘in demand standing’ tickets, for more than £350, more than double £148 tickets had initially gone on sale for just hours earlier.
The ‘dynamic pricing’ allowed Ticketmaster to raise the price of tickets according to market demand.
Amid the fallout from the controversy, the government has confirmed it will be looking into the use of dynamic pricing, whilst Oasis have distanced themselves from the matter.
Now, consumer watchdog Which? has started looking into whether fans were warned that ticket prices could rise.
The group said it has received dozens of screenshots from fans who tried to buy tickets, but none of these showed a message from Ticketmaster warning that prices could increase during the sale.
Which? claims to have seen evidence that prices changed for some fans at the last second as they tried to buy tickets.
The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (CPRs) states that traders must not mislead customers over prices or leave out key pricing information that might be required for customers to make an informed decision about their purchase.
Which? said many fans were not told of the price increases until they had already tried to add cheaper tickets to their baskets, and have urged fans who paid the higher prices to be given a refund.
Which? consumer law expert Lisa Webb said: “It seems extremely unfair that Oasis fans got up early and battled through the queues only to find that ticket prices had more than doubled from the originally advertised price.
“Which? believes that Ticketmaster’s ‘in demand’ pricing practices for Oasis tickets could have breached consumer law as it appears fans weren’t properly warned about the use of ‘in demand’ pricing until far too late in the purchase journey – leading to a nasty shock at the checkout.
“Oasis and Ticketmaster should do the right thing and refund fans who may have been misled into paying over the odds for tickets that would have been half the price just hours earlier.”
Ticketmaster has defended the pricing, stating that it does not set concert prices which are down to the “event organiser” according to the company’s website.
Oasis have implemented a new system for selling tickets for their two recently-announced Wembley shows at the end of September next year.
Fans who queued for tickets on Ticketmaster during the general sale for the July and August shows but were unsuccessful were invited to apply for a ballot.
Ballot winners will be contacted on Friday and will then have the chance to try and buy tickets for the September shows.
