Robert Smith continues to come through for Cure fans this week.
Reports surfaced from fans about paying more in Ticketmaster fees than the actual ticket price for the Cure’s upcoming North American tour. It’s the band’s first on the continent in seven years. Smith said he was “sickened” by the extra fees. Fortunately, he was able to negotiate with Ticketmaster to give fans a partial refund on the extra fees they paid on Cure tickets.
Smith tweeted last night (March 16), “After further conversation, Ticketmaster have agreed with us that many of the fees being charged were 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 ticket refund to all verified fan accounts for all other ticket price transactions, for all Cure shows at all venues.”
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
2 OF 2: …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
— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 16, 2023
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A screenshot from a ticket sale started making the rounds on Twitter earlier this week. It showed a fan buying four tickets priced at $20 each. Then came the fees. First, there was an $11.65 “Service Fee” on each ticket adding $46.60 to the total. Then, a “Facility Charge” of $10 per ticket added an additional $40. Finally, there was an “Order Processing Fee” of $5.50. This took a ticket sale from $80 to $172.10.
When the tour was announced, the band noted, “The Cure have agreed all ticket prices, and apart from a few Hollywood Bowl charity seats, there will be no ‘platinum’ or ‘dynamically priced’ tickets on this tour.”
Smith then said on Twitter, “We didn’t agree to the ‘dynamic pricing’/’price surging’/’platinum ticket’ thing…because it is itself a bit of a scam? A separate conversion!”
(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
He added, “We know it is a far from perfect system – but the reality is that if there aren’t enough tickets on sale, a number of fans are going to miss out whatever system we use; At least this one tries to get tickets into the hands of fans at a fair price. And/or we should play more/bigger shows? Ha!!! Onwards…”
WE KNOW IT IS A FAR FROM PERFECT SYSTEM – BUT THE REALITY IS THAT IF THERE AREN’T ENOUGH TICKETS ONSALE, A NUMBER OF FANS ARE GOING TO MISS OUT WHATEVER SYSTEM WE USE; AT LEAST THIS ONE TRIES TO GET TICKETS INTO THE HANDS OF FANS AT A FAIR PRICE…
— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 15, 2023
…AND/OR WE SHOULD PLAY MORE/BIGGER SHOWS? HA!!! ONWARDS…
— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 15, 2023
