Ticketmaster will offer ticket-buyers for The Cure’s US tour dates with partial refunds, following complaints over “unduly high” ticket fees.
Yesterday (Thursday) frontman Robert Smith said that Ticketmaster’s high fees “sickened” him and went looking for answers from the ticketing company.
One fan purchased four tickets at $20 (£17/€19) each, but incurred fees such as a $11.65 per ticket service charge, a facility charge of $10 and an order processing fee of $5.50 per ticket. This means that an $80 order eventually amounted to $172.10.
Smith announced on Twitter: “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.”
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
Prior to tickets going on sale, the band said that they tried to keep ticket prices as low as possible, and that tickets for many shows would be non-transferable to help keep ticket scalpers at bay.
The Cure’s ‘Shows of a Lost Word’ North America tour will run across May, June and July this year, with stops in New Orleans, Dallas, Los Angeles, Vancouver and more.