Calls have emerged for Oasis and Ticketmaster to refund concert-goers who faced a jump in prices when attempting late last month to buy tickets for the band’s reunion tour.
Consumer group Which? warned on Tuesday that the hike to prices, which saw tickets jump from around £148 to £355 midway through the sale, could have been illegal.
Dozens have subsequently said they were not specifically warned prices may be higher than originally advertised, meaning Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations could have been breached, Which? said.
“It seems extremely unfair that Oasis fans got up early and battled through the queues only to find that ticket prices had more than doubled,” Which? consumer law expert Lisa Webb said.
“Oasis and Ticketmaster should do the right thing and refund fans who may have been misled into paying over the odds for tickets.”
Ticketmaster and Oasis have already faced scrutiny over the use of dynamic pricing, a practice brought to light by Uber that sees costs increase with demand, during the sale.
This includes from the government and the UK Competition and Markets Authority, with the former having announced plans to investigate the Oasis sale.
Ticketmaster, a subsidiary of Live Nation Entertainment Inc (NYSE:LYV) since a merger in 2010 which the duo said would enable “dynamic promotion arrangements,” has previously said the pricing decisions were made by bands.
The use of such methods is not new in the music industry though, with fans looking to buy Bruce Springsteen tickets in 2022 reportedly shown prices as high as US$5,000 (£3,830).
This again related to sales on Ticketmaster, with the higher prices on official websites designed to allow artists to take their cut rather than see resellers purely benefit.
Following Which?'s calls, a Ticketmaster spokesperson said: “Fans can resell their Oasis tickets at the full price they paid through Ticketmaster or Twickets.”
Live Nation shares fell 0.4% on Tuesday.