The tour kicks off this Friday (4 July) in Cardiff, but the comeback tour has been shrouded in controversy since tickets went on sale last summer.
In March, the CMA published concerns that Ticketmaster may have misled fans in the way it priced tickets for the band’s concerts. Some fans paid more than £350 for tickets with a face value of £150.
After a thorough investigation, the watchdog has identified several consumer law concerns in relation to the Oasis sale.
Firstly, Ticketmaster labelled certain seated tickets as ‘platinum’ and sold them for nearly two-and-a-half times the price of equivalent standard tickets, without sufficiently explaining that they did not offer additional benefits and were often located in the same area of the stadium.
The CMA said this risked giving consumers the misleading impression that platinum tickets were better.
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The CMA also said Ticketmaster did not inform consumers that there were two categories of standing tickets at different prices. All the cheaper standing tickets sold first, before the more expensive standing tickets were released.
This resulted in many fans waiting in a lengthy queue without understanding what they would be paying and then having to decide whether to pay a higher price than expected.
However, the CMA did not find evidence that Ticketmaster used an algorithmic pricing model to adjust ticket prices in real time according to changing conditions like high demand.
‘Fundamental disagreement’
The watchdog set out the voluntary undertakings it would accept from Ticketmaster to address those concerns and Ticketmaster was given an opportunity to respond and agree undertakings.
In a letter to the business and trade select committee published on 1 July, the CMA said it received a response from Ticketmaster on 16 June.
The CMA said in the letter: “Having carefully considered Ticketmaster’s response, the CMA’s view is that there is fundamental disagreement between the CMA and Ticketmaster about whether Ticketmaster’s practices infringed consumer law.
“Ticketmaster has declined to provide undertakings in the terms sought by the CMA or indicate whether there is a form of undertakings [that] it would be prepared to offer. The CMA has written to Ticketmaster to confirm that it has now discharged its obligation to consult with Ticketmaster and, given that no undertakings have been offered or agreed, is now preparing to litigate the matter if necessary.”
Lisa Webb, Which?’s consumer law expert, said: “Which? has been sounding the alarm for months on Ticketmaster’s pricing practices for the Oasis reunion, so it’s disappointing to see the CMA has still not obtained the necessary promises from Ticketmaster that it will not breach consumer law in future.
“With the much anticipated Oasis tour kicking off on Friday, it’s crucial that the CMA acts quickly to send a clear signal that any possible breaches of the law won’t be tolerated. Too much harm has already been done to fans who paid over the odds last year.
“Since the CMA and Which? agree that there are serious legal concerns in the way that Oasis tickets were sold, Ticketmaster must be made to take responsibility and begin reimbursing fans who were affected by its seemingly unfair pricing practices.”
