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Investing.com -- The United Kingdom (TADAWUL:4280)’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is currently in discussions with Ticketmaster, seeking changes to how the ticketing platform provides pricing information and labels tickets, following concerns over the company’s sale of Oasis concert tickets.
The CMA’s concerns stem from Ticketmaster’s sale of over 900,000 tickets during the Oasis ticket sale event, which the authority believes may have breached consumer protection laws. The ticketing giant is accused of labeling specific seated tickets as ’platinum’ and selling them nearly 2.5 times the price of standard tickets, without adequately explaining that these ’platinum’ tickets offered no additional benefits and were often located in the same stadium area. This labeling could potentially mislead consumers into believing that ’platinum’ tickets were of superior quality.
Additionally, the CMA has raised concerns about Ticketmaster failing to inform consumers about the two different price categories of standing tickets. The cheaper standing tickets were sold first, followed by the release of more expensive standing tickets, leading to fans waiting in long queues without clear understanding of the pricing, and then having to decide whether to pay a higher price than expected.
Despite the widespread belief that Ticketmaster used a real-time algorithmic pricing model during the Oasis sale, adjusting ticket prices according to demand, the CMA found no evidence supporting this. Instead, Ticketmaster released a number of standing tickets at a lower price, and once these were sold out, the remaining standing tickets were released at a significantly higher price.
While the CMA acknowledges that Ticketmaster has made some changes to its ticket sales process since the investigation began, it does not believe these changes are adequate to address its concerns. The CMA is now consulting with Ticketmaster on further steps required, including changes to the information provided to customers, when this information is provided, and how certain tickets are labeled.
Hayley Fletcher, Interim Senior Director of Consumer Protection at the CMA, stated that they launched the investigation after fans reported issues when buying Oasis tickets from Ticketmaster. She expressed concern that Oasis fans may have been misled into buying tickets they thought were better than they were. Fletcher now expects Ticketmaster to cooperate with the CMA to address these issues, enabling fans to make well-informed decisions when buying tickets in the future. She also urged all ticketing websites to ensure they are complying with the law and treating their customers fairly.
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