CONSUMER champions Which? have called on Oasis and Ticketmaster to refund fans who were hit with extortionate prices when buying tickets for the band’s 2025 reunion tour.
The band, which includes second-generation Irish brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher, announced their reunion last month and confirmed they would be embarking on a world tour next year after a 15-year split.
The news drew a huge response from fans worldwide who clambered for tickets, which went on sale on Saturday, August 31.
The demand saw those hoping to get tickets met with long queues and buffering issues as the shows sold out within hours of going on sale.
Some of those lucky enough to get to the stage of purchasing tickets were faced with increased costs as result of dynamic pricing put in place by Ticketmaster.
The firm was accused of acting like touts for implementing the controversial pricing model on the sale of the tickets – which saw many standing tickets being sold for four times as much as their standard pricing.
The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating whether Ticketmaster breached consumer protection lawToday Which? has warned that Ticketmaster have potentially breached consumer law with their ‘in demand’ pricing model and called on the band and the ticketing giant to do the right thing and refund the difference to fans who paid more than the expected face value for tickets.
Following the controversy which erupted over the tickets issue, Which? asked Oasis fans to send it screenshots of their ticket buying and checkout process to see if fans were warned that ticket prices could surge due to high levels of demand.
They 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.
Instead, Which? saw 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.
In one instance Which? saw a screenshot showing that due to ‘in demand’ pricing the cost of standing tickets at a Heaton Park show in Manchester - originally advertised for £148.50 - surged to £337.50 each.
This meant that four standing tickets could cost an eye-watering £1,400 once service and order processing fees were included.
Which? believes Ticketmaster’s lack of transparency around its ‘in demand’ pricing for the Oasis concerts could have breached Britain’s 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.
“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,” they added.
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 route to pursue.
Oasis have previously stated that they had no involvement in the decision to implement dynamic pricing.
Which? is calling on Oasis and Ticketmaster to do the right thing now 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.
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.
“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.”
