Ticketmaster has been urged by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to make changes to its processes following widespread backlash about the sale of Oasis concert tickets. The CMA has conducted a formal investigation and is now consulting with the ticketing platform on changes to ensure fans receive the right information, at the right time. The CMA believes the platform may have broken consumer protection law by not informing fans about the two pricing categories for standing tickets, which led to confusion when they were forced to pay a higher price than expected.
While the CMA recognised that Ticketmaster has made some changes since the start of the investigation, it does not believe these adjustments to be sufficient. The CMA believes that Ticketmaster may have misled consumers during the sale of the Oasis tickets by labelling some tickets as seated tickets as "platinum," selling them at much higher prices without clarifying that they did not offer extra benefits.
The CMA stated that by failing to inform fans about these two categories of standing tickets at different prices, Ticketmaster sold all the cheaper tickets first, and when the more expensive tickets were released, fans were left to decide whether to pay a higher price than expected after waiting in long queues.
The CMA urged the platform to offer better pricing information and change its way of labelling tickets.
Ticketmaster sold over 900,000 tickets during this Oasis Tickets sale.
Hayley Fletcher, the CMA's Interim Senior Director of Consumer Protection, said: "Fans reported problems when buying Oasis tickets from Ticketmaster and we decided those concerns warranted investigation.
"We're concerned that Oasis fans didn't get the information they needed or may have been misled into buying tickets they thought were better than they were.
"We now expect Ticketmaster to work with us to address these concerns so, in future, fans can make well-informed decisions when buying tickets.
"All ticketing websites should check they are complying with the law and treating their customers fairly. When businesses get it right, consumers benefit - and that's the best outcome for everyone."
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