British rock band Oasisled by brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher, announced just a week ago that they were getting back together 15 years later her abrupt separation. To celebrate the reunion, after countless arguments between the two brothers, they announced an international tour called “Oasis Live 25” This would allow the group to be seen in 14 appointments distributed between Ireland and the United Kingdom. However, the tour has not yet started and has already generated a first controversy: the price of the tickets.
The official sale was launched on Saturday, August 31 via the portals Ticketmaster and Tickets which, after the pandemic, work with the “dynamic pricing” formula. In other words, faced with the avalanche of requests, they adjust prices (in the middle of the purchasing process) according to demand, which causes prices to skyrocket. So, after long waits and collapses On the site, some users had an unpleasant “surprise” when they got to the purchase process. Tickets no longer cost the original price indicated, exceeding up to six times the initial value.
It is true that the distributor, with several messages, It alerted the user that “due to high demand” the ticket prices had changed. An abusive (but not illegal) practice, which the group itself had tried to prevent, by asking its followers not to resell the tickets.
UK and Ireland to investigate what happened
As expected, the sale of tickets has triggered a wave of criticism against the ticket sales pages, not only because of the endless queues online, but also because of the aforementioned abusive price. The discomfort and unease generated among the followers of the legendary Manchester group has been such that the British and Irish governments have opened an investigation to clarify what happened with the “dynamic” pricesand put an end to it.
In the case of the British, Labour announced, a day after the sale, that they would study this situation in the next consultation on the ticket market in the United Kingdom, dedicated to combating the phenomenon of unfair prices and resale. Similarly, the Secretary of Culture, Lisa Nandy, expressed her firm commitment to put an end to “fraudulent resales” and ensure that tickets are sold at “fair prices”.
On the other hand, Minister Lucy Powell, Leader of the House of Commons, confirmed in an interview on “BBC Radio 5” that she was among those affected and that she had spent more than double the initial cost. He acknowledges that he “had no choice” but to pay, since they are “the rules by which the market operates.”
The Irish government, in turn, has expressed itself in the same vein. Prime Minister Simon Harris has announced that he wants to investigate “the monopoly” in the ticketing sector. Likewise, he stressed the need to analyze the sector’s operations to solve problems related to the transparency and the application of so-called “dynamic” prices, with which these companies modify the final cost when demand increases.
“I think a lot of people have a bad taste in their mouths.” for prices and supplementsand we must also be aware that we are facing a monopoly situation,” stressed the head of the Executive.
