Which? calls on Oasis and Ticketmaster to refund fans hit by dynamic pricing fiasco

Oasis and Ticketmaster should provide a refund for fans who were charged over-inflated prices for tickets, one of the UK’s biggest consumer groups has said.

Which? has called for fans to receive a refund after some found that the price of tickets for the group’s anticipated reunion had significantly increased when they went to buy them, as a result of Ticketmaster using dynamic pricing.

Dynamic pricing was introduced by Ticketmaster in 2022, with the ticketing giant claiming that it was introduced to stop touts and ensure a greater percentage of money goes to the artists. It works on the model that prices will go up where demand is high, but many have accused Ticketmaster of ripping fans off.

When it came to the Oasis sale, some fans paid £355 for a ticket which was originally advertised at £135 when it came to finalising their purchase.

The government has called for a review into the system, while Which? has said Ticketmaster should “do the right thing and refund the difference to fans who may have been misled into paying huge sums for tickets that were half the price just hours earlier”.

The consumer champion brand has also claimed it believes that Ticketmaster’s “lack of transparency” about its dynamic pricing “could have breached the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (CPRs) as many fans were not informed about the increases until after they had already tried to add cheaper tickets to their baskets”.

Lisa Webb, Which?’s consumer law expert said in a statement: “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.

“Which? believes that Ticketmaster’s ‘in demand’ pricing practices for Oasis tickets could have breached consumer law as it appears fans weren’t properly warned about the use of ‘in demand’ pricing until far too late in the purchase journey – leading to a nasty shock at the checkout.

“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.”

In a statement shared last week, Oasis said they were unaware that prices would be hiked up to such a dramatic degree.

“It needs to be made clear that Oasis leave decisions on ticketing and pricing entirely to their promoters and management, and at no time had any awareness that dynamic pricing was going to be used,” it said.

The statement continued: “While prior meetings between promoters, Ticketmaster and the band’s management resulted in a positive ticket sale strategy, which would be a fair experience for fans, including dynamic ticketing to help keep general ticket prices down as well as reduce touting, the execution of the plan failed to meet expectations. All parties involved did their utmost to deliver the best possible fan experience, but due to the unprecedented demand this became impossible to achieve.”

A representative for Ticketmaster commented to Which?: “We are committed to cooperating with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and look forward to sharing more facts about the ticket sale with them.”

The use of dynamic pricing is also being investigated by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), who said that they will share their “findings with the Competition and Markets Authority for their investigation into Ticketmaster’s pricing practices”.

Oasis have also announced two new Wembley gigs on September 27 and 28, described as “a small step towards making amends for the situation” with an invitation-only ballet given to fans who were previously unable to buy tickets.