The Cure had hoped to make tickets affordable for their first U.S. tour in seven years. But Ticketmaster’s gonna Ticketmaster, so fees sometimes exceeded the price of tickets, and many fans were still left empty-handed.
Legendary English rock band The Cure thought they had the cure to the modern-day scourge of astonishingly high ticket prices. The band insisted that tickets for their Shows of a Lost World tour, their first U.S. tour in seven years, would be priced as low as $20 a seat, and tickets would be non-transferable.
Infuriating! Registered, confirmed "Verified Fan" of @thecure by @Ticketmaster & given ticket code. Was early & tried to get tix for OVER AN HOUR, each time it wouldn't work for one reason or another with messages saying "it's not your fault, it's ours". A total garbage service. pic.twitter.com/dCiidmgCSO
— Peaches Christ (@PeachesChrist) March 15, 2023
But boys did indeed cry once Ticketmaster got their monopoly villain hands onto the process. Pre-sale tickets for “verified fans” went on sale this morning, and Bloomberg reports that Ticketmaster fees were higher than the ticket prices themselves for some buyers, and a slew of social media posts show that even fans who jumped through the “verified fan” hoops did not get tickets.
the cure deliberately kept ticket prices low and @Ticketmaster was like “lol bet” and charges more in fees than the band is for the actual show pic.twitter.com/Ig0U5Ywcpw
— frank costanza’s lawyer (@_carrrmen) March 15, 2023
Above we see a screenshot of one fan’s purchase; four $20 tickets, for a total of $80. But between a “Service Fee,” a “Facility Charge,” and an “Order Processing Fee,” the fees on an $80 purchase totaled $12.10 more than the tickets themselves.
(WE DIDN’T AGREE TO THE 'DYNAMIC PRICING' / 'PRICE SURGING’ / ‘PLATINUM TICKET' THING... BECAUSE IT IS ITSELF A BIT OF A SCAM? A SEPARATE CONVERSATION!)
— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 15, 2023
The Cure’s Robert Smith has been on a Twitter rampage since even before tickets went on sale today. “WE DIDN’T AGREE TO THE 'DYNAMIC PRICING' / 'PRICE SURGING’ / ‘PLATINUM TICKET' THING,” the vocalist declared in all-caps. “BECAUSE IT IS ITSELF A BIT OF A SCAM? A SEPARATE CONVERSATION!.)”
When you are When you are
— Mike Beauvais (@MikeBeauvais) March 15, 2023
screwed out of screwed out of
Taylor Swift tickets The Cure tickets
by Ticketmaster: by Ticketmaster: pic.twitter.com/jkLjvhWH4x
The Cure plays Saturday, May 27 at Shoreline Amphitheatre, for those lucky enough to get tickets and then get screwed over by Ticketmaster with service fees, facility charges, and order processing fees.
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Image: GLASTONBURY, ENGLAND - JUNE 30: Robert Smith of The Cure performs on the Pyramid stage on day five of Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, Pilton on June 30, 2019 in Glastonbury, England. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images)
