After criticizing Ticketmaster for what he considered to be unnecessarily high fees, Robert Smith of The Cure said that the firm will return some money to the fans.
Many fans voiced their dissatisfaction with the collaboration when it was originally revealed that The Cure was working with Ticketmaster. Smith claimed that Ticketmaster had assured them that the “Verified Fan” method would cut down on scalping by as much as 80%.
Before tickets went on sale, the band had stated that they offered a range of prices for each performance and were collaborating with ticketing organizations to thwart scalpers, reduce resale activity, and maintain face-value ticket prices.
However, numerous customers posted images of the service fees, facility costs, and order processing fees that drove up pricing on social media. One image demonstrated that the costs by themselves were greater than the $80 the user would spend on four tickets.
So @thecure and @RobertSmith wanted to keep ticket prices at a reasonable level for fans on their upcoming North American tour dates. Of course @Ticketmaster absolutely rinsed them with ridiculous extra charges
wtf even is a service fee or a facility charge or processing fee?? pic.twitter.com/jsgspXnifj
— Tim Burgess (@Tim_Burgess) March 16, 2023
Despite the fact that Ticketmaster had proposed the “Verified Fan” fees as a fix, the “dynamic pricing” approach resulted in astronomical prices. Smith stated he hadn’t agreed to the plan and criticized the pricing arrangement. He said We didn’t agree to the ‘dynamic pricing’/’ price surging’/platinum ticket’ thing… because it is itself a bit of a scam? A separate conversation!”
Smith said in a different post on Thursday that he had further discussions regarding the costs and that Ticketmaster had agreed to reimburse customers who had already purchased tickets. Tickets would cost less moving forward, he announced.
He stated, “After further conversation, Ticketmaster have agreed with us that many of the fees being charged are unduly high, and as a gesture of goodwill have offered a $10 per ticket refund to all verified fan accounts for lowest ticket price (‘ltp’) transactions.”
“And a $5 per ticket refund to all verified fan accounts for all other ticket price transactions for all Cure shows at all venues; if you already bought a ticket, you will get an automatic refund; all tickets on sale tomorrow will incur lower fees.”
The Cure will perform in Dallas, Phoenix, San Diego, Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, Boston, New York City, and Atlanta as part of their next tour, which will begin on May 10 in New Orleans and end on July 1 in Miami.
1 OF 2: AFTER FURTHER CONVERSATION, TICKETMASTER HAVE AGREED WITH US THAT MANY OF THE FEES BEING CHARGED ARE UNDULY HIGH, AND AS A GESTURE OF GOODWILL HAVE OFFERED A $10 PER TICKET REFUND TO ALL VERIFIED FAN ACCOUNTS FOR LOWEST TICKET PRICE ('LTP’) TRANSACTIONS…
— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 16, 2023
