The Cure’s Robert Smith convinces Ticketmaster to refund ‘unduly high’ fees after fan anger

theguardian.com:

Ticketmaster will refund some of its fees to fans buying tickets for the Cure’s US tour, after frontman Robert Smith took them to task over their “unduly high” fees that were, in some cases, adding up to more than the price of a ticket.

On Thursday, Smith told fans that he was “as sickened as you all are” and he would contact Ticketmaster after many took to social media to complain about the ticket sales behemoth’s additional fees.

“I have been asking how they are justified,” Smith wrote to fans in a trademark caps lock tweet. “If I get anything coherent by way of an answer I will let you all know.”

The band had purposefully kept tickets affordable, with some as low as $20 (£16). But fans shared screenshots of Ticketmaster shopping baskets with varying fees across different venues: one image showed combined fees that exceeded the cost of a $20 ticket – each subject to a service fee of $11.65 and a facility charge of $10, plus an overall order processing fee of $5.50.

The fees were levied by Ticketmaster as part of its Verified Fan program, which allows fans to register for an advance sale that is aimed at preventing tickets being sold to touts and bots for resale.

Later on Thursday, Smith issued an update. “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,” he wrote.