‘Additional fees are outrageous’: Angry music fans slam Ticketmaster ‘predatory’ for ‘detaching’ them with ‘unduly high charges’, after The Cure frontman Robert Smith called out the ticket titan in Twitter
- Smith tweeted that he had gotten $10 and $20 refunds for fans of The Cure.
- Fees were reported by customers who said Ticketmaster was ‘pushing’ them
The Cure frontman Robert Smith has convinced Ticketmaster to refund some of the eye-popping booking fees the firm charged fans for their US tour, which some fans say was in excess of the price of one ticket.
The “outrageous” fees were reported by customers who said Ticketmaster was “pushing” them for a concert for which the band hoped to keep tickets reasonably priced.
Smith took to Twitter to tell fans that he was “as sick as y’all” and would be contacting Ticketmaster following major backlash to the charges.
He later tweeted to reveal that he had gotten $10 (£8) refunds for anyone who had bought the cheapest tickets, which were priced at $20 (£16) and $5 for everyone else.
“If you’ve already purchased a ticket, you’ll get an automatic refund,” he tweeted. “All tickets on sale tomorrow will have lower fares.”
Smith took to Twitter to tell fans that he was “as sick as y’all” and would be contacting Ticketmaster following major backlash to the charges.
Fans welcomed the move, with one responding ‘this is a start’ after Smith took action.
British singer and frontman for the rock band The Charlatans, Tim Burgess, said he was not surprised by the fees, arguing that “the system is broken.”
‘So @thecure and @RobertSmith wanted to keep ticket prices reasonable for fans on their upcoming North American tour dates.
“Of course @Ticketmaster absolutely flushed them with ridiculous add-on charges.”
High booking fees have long been a scourge for music fans, and today many took to Twitter to praise Smith for taking action while criticizing Ticketmaster for its ‘greed’ and ‘predatory’ behaviour.
Nigel Carr, editor of Louder Than War, said he hoped the incident would persuade more acts to campaign against excessive fees.
‘Everything is automated, so why these outrageous fees? If more bands took a position like Robert Smith’s, some of this excessive burden would be removed.
“I would recommend fans take to social media to expose excessive fees, because simply emailing Ticketmaster won’t do much. Really yell about it. Label the acts and try to make your voice heard.
The Cure, whose North American Shows of a Lost World tour kicks off in May, were first alerted to the problems with ticket sales Wednesday when fans began sharing screenshots of their Ticketmaster baskets.
Smith took to Twitter to tell fans that he was “as sick as y’all” and would be contacting Ticketmaster following major backlash to the charges.
In one case, a fan who bought four $20 (£16.54) tickets ended up paying $172.10 (£142), after service fees, a “setup charge” and another “processing fee” were added. “.
A second, who was booking for Phoenix in Arizona, paid $72.25 (£59.75) for a ticket with a face value of $20 (£16.54).
Smith criticized the fees in a series of all-caps tweets, writing: “I’M AS SICK AS YOU ABOUT TODAY’S TICKETMASTER ‘FEE’ DEBACULA. TO BE VERY CLEAR: THE ARTIST HAS NO WAY TO LIMIT THEM.
‘I’VE BEEN ASKING HOW THEY ARE JUSTIFIED. IF I HAVE SOMETHING CONSISTENT BY WAY OF AN ANSWER I WILL LET EVERYONE KNOW. X’
High booking fees have long been a scourge for music fans, and today many took to Twitter to praise Smith for taking action while criticizing Ticketmaster for its ‘greed’.
He later announced that Ticketmaster had accepted the refunds “as a gesture of goodwill.”
The site has angered music fans in the past, including in November when it canceled general ticket sales for Taylor Swift’s Eras tour because demand for premium tickets had left “insufficient remaining ticket inventory.”
Meanwhile, company bosses have been questioned by US senators for ‘monopolizing’ the ticketing market and setting prices so that children do not attend concerts.
Ticketmaster has been contacted for comment.
In the ‘explained fees’ section of its website, Ticketmaster says that while it doesn’t keep any percentage of the face value cost of tickets, it does take a proportion of the additional fees.
These revenues, he says, help “cover the cost of running our business” as well as “provide (customers) the best experience buying tickets and getting into the show.”
