When paying for the band’s North American tour, some fans found themselves with hefty fees applied by Ticketmaster, sometimes doubling the cost of the initial ticket.
Fans of The Cure can thank Robert Smith. After being alerted by some Internet users to high fees applied when buying concert tickets for the group’s upcoming North American tour, the singer expressed his anger against Ticketmaster on Twitter.
Robert Smith said he was “disgusted” by the methods of the platform and assures that after discussion with a manager, he managed to obtain reimbursement of part of these costs.
“Ticketmaster has recognized that most of the fees applied were too high and will refund between $5 and $10 depending on the ticket,” he tweeted Thursday.
When announcing the sale of tickets for its North American tour, The Cure assured its fans that the prices of these tickets would remain affordable, starting at 20 dollars (about 18 euros).
But subsequently, several fans had sent the group screenshots of their shopping carts where, in addition to the price of the tickets, numerous fees (for service, installation, order processing) were applied. ..) sometimes doubling the final cost of the concert ticket.
Ongoing trial and investigation in the USA
This position taken by Robert Smith is part of a context of general fed up with Ticketmaster in the United States and its system of selling seats at dynamic prices – which change according to supply and Requirement.
In 2022, when announcing their respective tours, Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen, for example, suffered from the hiccups of this system and saw the price of certain tickets for their concerts skyrocket, against their will, due to high demand.
This mismanagement eventually annoyed some ticketing users to such an extent that some 30 Taylor Swift fans sued Ticketmaster last December for “fraud, price-fixing and antitrust violations.”
The controversy surrounding these ticket sales has also revived criticism of the dominant position of Ticketmaster, a giant in the ticket sales sector. US MPs have notably called for an investigation into the ticket sales business and a committee, supported by the Senate, has organized a hearing on the lack of competition in the ticketing sector.
