Watchdog calls on retailer to refund Oasis fans amid claim 'in demand' pricing breached consumer law

Ticketmaster’s “in demand” pricing for Oasis tickets potentially breached consumer law, a consumer watchdog has warned, as it called on the band and ticketing giant to refund the difference to fans who paid more than the expected face value for tickets. 

Following controversy over the dynamic pricing model used by Ticketmaster for the band’s long-awaited reunion gigs, Which? asked Oasis fans to send in screenshots of the ticket buying and checkout process to see if fans were warned that ticket prices could surge due to high levels of demand. 

This comes days after Ireland’s competition watchdog launched an investigation into Ticketmaster over Oasis ticket sales.

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) said it will look at Ticketmaster’s handling of the sale of tickets following “legitimate concerns over how consumers were treated”.

The consumer champion received dozens of screenshots from fans who had tried to buy tickets - both before and after prices increased - none of which showed a warning message that Ticketmaster would increase prices during the sale. 

Which? said it had seen evidence that fans were shown one price for tickets, only to have that price taken away at the last second and replaced with a far higher, and unexpected, ticket price. 

Which?

The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (CPRs) protect consumers from unfair or misleading trading practices. Under the CPRs, when advertising a product, traders must not mislead consumers with how prices are presented or leave out key pricing information that they might need to make an informed decision about their purchase. 

The regulations also blacklist 31 specific practices including bait advertising: when the trader lures in the consumer with attractive advertising around special prices when the trader knows that it cannot offer that product or only has a few in stock at that price.

Which? said it believes Ticketmaster’s lack of transparency around its “in demand” pricing for the Oasis concerts could have breached the CPRs as many fans were not informed about the increases until after they had already tried to add cheaper tickets to their baskets. The use of ‘dynamic pricing’ is mentioned in the terms and conditions on the website but fans were not warned that this practice would be used for Oasis tickets. 

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is also investigating whether Ticketmaster’s sale of Oasis tickets may have breached consumer law. A finding from the CMA that the ticketing approach breached consumer law would enable fans to seek refunds and compensation from Oasis and Ticketmaster - but that would likely be a lengthy and arduous route to pursue. Oasis have previously stated that they had no involvement in the decision to implement dynamic pricing. 

Which? will be sharing its findings with the Competition and Markets Authority for its investigation into Ticketmaster’s pricing practices. 

Lisa Webb, Which? consumer law expert, said: “It seems extremely unfair that Oasis fans got up early and battled through the queues only to find that tickets prices had more than doubled from the originally advertised price. 

“Oasis and Ticketmaster should do the right thing and refund fans who may have been misled into paying over the odds for tickets that would have been half the price just hours earlier.”