Ticketmaster is at the center of controversy for the manner in which it was selling tickets for the highly anticipated Oasis reunion tour, with concerns that the company has possibly violated consumer protection law. The controversy centers on Ticketmaster’s use of “dynamic pricing,” a strategy whereby tickets are priced at incremental increases based on demand. This led to massive price hikes while fans were buying their tickets and shocked and appalled many fans.
The UK Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (CPRs) protect consumers from unfair or misleading trading practices. The CPRs require traders to provide clear and timely price information, thus preventing consumers from being misled in their purchasing decisions. The CPRs also prohibit bait advertising, whereby consumers are encouraged to buy at cheap prices, only to find that the product is not available at the stated price.
For Oasis tickets, supporters griped that they were not sufficiently warned of potential price increases due to dynamic pricing. The majority were only made aware of higher prices after attempting to purchase tickets, which had been advertised for lower prices in the initial place. This has raised fears that Ticketmaster may have violated consumer protection law by not providing adequate notice of how prices would shift based on demand.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has started to look into Ticketmaster’s conduct on the resale of Oasis tickets. The CMA is looking into whether Ticketmaster acted unfairly towards consumers in selling Oasis tickets through dynamic pricing and not providing clear and timely information about such pricing. The CMA is also investigating whether consumers were driven to make rushed purchases of more expensive tickets than they were seeking.
The investigation follows a high volume of complaints from fans who felt misled by the ticketing policy. The CMA gathered evidence from fans who attempted to purchase tickets, asking them to describe their experience and provide screenshots of the ticket-buying process. The evidence will help determine if Ticketmaster broke consumer protection laws.
In Ireland, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) also launched an inquiry into Ticketmaster Ireland’s selling of Oasis tickets. The CCPC received over 100 consumer complaints about customers being unhappy with the process of buying tickets. The investigation is to see if Ticketmaster’s business practices in Ireland complied with consumer protection laws.
If investigations prove that Ticketmaster broke consumer protection legislation, the fans may be eligible for compensation or refunds. The findings of these investigations will not only impact Ticketmaster but also ticketing companies’ adoption of dynamic pricing as a whole. Clarity and openness over pricing behavior are key to ensuring consumers are dealt with fairly and can make well-informed purchasing decisions.
Oasis has insisted that they played no role in the implementation of dynamic ticket pricing. The band management and event organizers can also fall into the loop as the inquiry goes on.
Dynamic pricing itself is not against the law, but it must be employed in a way that the consumer is not being tricked. The Oasis ticket scandal highlights the need for ticketing organizations to make their price determination mechanisms as transparent and equitable as possible to consumers. While changes will likely never be instituted by Ticketmaster because of these allegations or not, regulatory bodies and consumers alike are watching closely how they respond to such allegations and move to protect consumers in the future.
