Source: AFP
The British government has said it will investigate price gouging after furious Oasis fans faced huge hikes in ticket prices for the Britpop band’s long-awaited reunion.
Fans were left disappointed on Saturday when sales sites crashed due to the sheer weight of demand.
But many who eventually made it to the front of the online queue hours after the sales began were also disappointed to find their tickets had more than doubled in price.
Culture Minister Lisa Nandy called the inflated prices “depressing” on Sunday, adding that the practice would be reviewed as part of the government’s upcoming consultation on consumer protection in ticket sales and resale.
“We will include issues around transparency and the use of dynamic pricing, including the technology around the queuing systems that incentivize it,” Nandy said.
On Ticketmaster — one of Oasis’ official sales sites — standing tickets originally priced at around £150 ($197) were being sold for upwards of £350 marked “standing tickets in demand”.
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The company said artists decide whether or not to opt into the practice, where the ticket price changes based on demand.
The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority said on Monday it had received 450 complaints about Ticketmaster’s adverts for the concerts, accusing them of making “misleading claims about availability and pricing”.
The regulator said it was “carefully considering” the complaints.
Dynamic pricing is widely used by airlines and is becoming increasingly common in concert ticket sales.
However, with a limited supply of tickets and huge demand for the Oasis reunion tour, fans criticized the practice as “greedy”, “disgusting” and “ripping off”.
One reason given for using dynamic pricing is to prevent touts from buying and reselling tickets at higher prices.
Oasis had previously warned that “tickets sold in breach of terms and conditions will be cancelled” after some pre-sale tickets bought on Friday appeared on resale websites at hugely inflated prices, some as high as £6,000.
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In Ireland, where reselling tickets for more than their face value is illegal, Deputy Prime Minister Michael Martin lashed out at the “high price” as some tickets sold for more than €400 ($440) due to inflated prices.
Oasis, whose hits include ‘Wonderwall’, ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ and ‘Champagne Supernova’, are scheduled to play 17 dates in the UK and Ireland, 15 years after the warring brothers last appeared Liam and Noel Gallagher together.
Source: AFP
