LONDON — The British government has said it will probe surge pricing after furious Oasis fans faced huge hikes in ticket prices for the Britpop band's much-anticipated reunion. Fans were left frustrated on Saturday when sales websites crashed due to sheer weight of demand.
But many who eventually made it to the front of the online queue hours after sales began were also dismayed to find their tickets had more than doubled in price.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy called the inflated prices "depressing" on Sunday, adding that the practice would be reviewed as part of the government's upcoming consultation on consumer protections in ticket sales and resales.
"We will include issues around the transparency and use of dynamic pricing, including the technology around queuing systems which incentivise it," Nandy said.
On Ticketmaster -- one of the official Oasis sales websites -- standing tickets originally priced at around £150 ($197) were being sold for over £350 labelled as "in demand standing tickets". The company said artists decide whether or not to opt for the practice, where the value of the ticket changes based on the demand. UK's Advertising Standards Authority regulator said on Monday it received 450 complaints about Ticketmaster ads for the gigs accusing them of making "misleading claims about availability and pricing".
The regulator said it was "carefully assessing" the complaints. Dynamic pricing is widely used by airlines and is becoming increasingly common in concert ticket sales.
However, with a limited supply of tickets, and huge demand for the Oasis reunion tour, fans slammed the practice as "greedy", "disgusting" and a "rip off".
One reason given for using dynamic pricing is to prevent touts from buying and reselling tickets at higher prices.
Oasis had previously warned that "tickets sold in breach of the terms and conditions will be cancelled" after some pre-sale tickets bought on Friday appeared on resale sites at heavily inflated prices, some as high as £6,000.
In Ireland, where reselling tickets above face value is illegal, Deputy Prime Minister Michael Martin slammed the "price gouging" as some tickets were sold for over 400 euros ($440) due to surge pricing.
Oasis, whose hits include "Wonderwall", "Don't Look Back In Anger" and "Champagne Supernova", are scheduled to play 17 dates in the UK and Ireland, 15 years after warring brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher's last performance together.
