Not warning Oasis fans of dynamic pricing may be law breach, experts say

Not warning Oasis fans about dynamic pricing, where the price of their tickets may soar while they are queuing, may have been a breach of consumer law – according to a new report by The Guardian.

Last week Oasis announced their upcoming reunion tour, and tickets went on sale over the weekend. However, it was met with much controversy as Ticketmaster implemented a dynamic pricing system, which meant that ticket pricing increased depending on demand – without warning.

This led to some fans who had been in the queue the entire day paying £355 for a ticket which was originally £135 when it came to confirm their purchase. This left some in a difficult predicament – either paying over double what they originally wanted to or missing out on tickets to see Oasis.

Now a report by The Guardian has found that Ticketmaster may have been breaching consumer laws. Expert say that although dynamic pricing itself is legal, Ticketmaster may have violated consumer regulations if it wasn’t made clear to fans that the price of standard standing tickets could rise.

Sylvia Rook, the lead officer for fair trading at the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI), told the newspaper: “It is a breach of the consumer protection from unfair trading regulations (2008) if a trader misleads consumers regarding the price of goods and services, if that causes the average consumer to take a different ‘transactional decision’.

“In this case many consumers would not have joined the queue had they known that the price would have increased by the time they were able to purchase, and many fans could not afford the increased price.”

On Monday, the consumer group Which? urged the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to clarify whether Ticketmaster’s use of dynamic pricing for the Oasis tour complied with current regulations.

Ticketmaster responded, noting that the final pricing strategy was determined by Oasis and their management. NME has contacted Ticketmaster and Oasis for comment.

The Advertising Standards Authority reported on Monday that it had received over 450 complaints regarding “misleading claims about availability and pricing”.

Earlier today Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy also called for a review into “dynamic pricing” and secondary ticket sites.

She said it was “depressing to see vastly inflated prices” and said surge pricing would be included in a government review of the secondary gig sales market.

Nandy said (via Sky News): “After the incredible news of Oasis’s return, it’s depressing to see vastly inflated prices excluding ordinary fans from having a chance of enjoying their favourite band live.

“This government is committed to putting fans back at the heart of music. So we will include issues around the transparency and use of dynamic pricing, including the technology around queuing systems which incentivise it, in our forthcoming consultation on consumer protections for ticket resales.

“Working with artists, industry, and fans we can create a fairer system that ends the scourge of touts, rip-off resales, and ensures tickets at fair prices.”

Ticketmaster also came under fire for their dynamic pricing strategy earlier this year. Most notably, music industry figureheads such as The Cure took aim at the company, with Robert Smith saying he was “sickened” when he saw Ticketmaster fees totalled higher than the face value itself.

After cancelling over 7,000 tickets on secondary resale sites, Smith was later able to convince the ticketing giant to issue small reimbursements to verified ticket buyers to compensate for “unduly high” fees. He later had to ask Ticketmaster to explain why tickets in its promised face value ticket exchange were “weird” and “over priced”.

Paramore’s Hayley Williams also previously told the company to “get their shit together”, saying: “We don’t take it lightly, we know, honestly, especially now, it’s a huge sacrifice to come to a show because Ticketmaster need to get their shit together.

“We’ve put a lot of pressure on ourselves too because we were like, ‘People are spending money that they don’t have to come and hang out with us and we better give them something that’s worth that’. We just love you so much.”

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