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CTSI Statement: Oasis concert tickets and concerns over possible misleading pricing practices (02 September 2024).

Sylvia Rook, Lead Officer for Fair Trading at the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI), yesterday said:

"We are aware of the fact that many consumers have complained that the tickets they were offered, after having queued for several hours online, ended up costing substantially more than the originally advertised prices that were released at the end of last week.

"Whilst dynamic pricing is an accepted practice for holidays, flights and taxis, the difference here is that consumers are informed of the price before they decide to make a purchase.  In this case, the public were given a price for tickets, and were not informed until they finally got to the front of the queue, that the price had increased.  This undoubtedly meant that many consumers have overreached and ended up spending much more than they originally intended.  Many other consumers ended up disappointed after deciding not to proceed to pay the vastly increased prices.  One CTSI member who queued for 5 hours was faced with paying £358 for a standing ticket at Wembley when he was expecting to pay £151.

"Dynamic, or fluid pricing, is not specifically prohibited by consumer protection law; the important factor is that consumers are not misled by the indicated price.  It is a breach of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 if a trader misleads consumers regarding the price of goods and services, if that causes the average consumer to take a different ‘transactional decision’.  In this case many consumers would not have joined the queue had they known that the price would have increased by the time they were able to purchase, and many fans could not afford the increased price. 

"Ticketmaster have said the tickets were ‘in demand’ tickets, which is why the price was higher but, to ensure consumer legislation is complied with, all relevant information about the price should have been given to consumers before they joined the queue.  CTSI is also aware of the vastly increased price of tickets on resale sites, meaning that genuine fans are unable to buy tickets which may have been purchased by bots. 

"Anyone who feels they were misled by the promotion of the Oasis tickets and the ticket platforms promoting them is encouraged to report the matter to Trading Standards by calling the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 0808 223 1133 if in England and Wales. In Scotland, contact Advice Direct Scotland on 0808 164 6000, or if in Northern Ireland, call Consumerline on 0300 123 6262.

"We will be working with the government to see how consumers can be better protected with regard to the sale of event tickets.”

The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) is a national not for profit established in 1881 which supports the UK’s trading standards profession, and works to protect consumers and safeguard honest businesses. CTSI's members are engaged in delivering frontline trading standards services at local authorities and in businesses. 

www.tradingstandards.uk

Please contact CTSI Press Office: pressoffice@tsi.org.uk or 07496 254934 with any queries or to request a spokesperson.