Oasis fans have been left calling for a complete revamp of ticket sales in the UK after the Britpop legend’s reunion tour sells out completely.
Tickets to see Oasis live for the first time in 15 years went on general sale yesterday, with fans queuing up in their thousands for a chance to secure the goods.
Unsurprisingly, the ‘unprecedented’ demand for tickets led to hours of long queues and complaints that websites were ‘crashing’ or accusing punters of being bots yesterday – before the band finally confirmed all shows were completely sold out on Saturday evening.
However, fans up and down the country are still unhappy with how the events of yesterday panned out, with many no calling for a ‘complete revamp’ of how concert tickets are sold.
“Ticketmaster isn’t fit for purpose. Eight hours queuing, numerous times in the checkout, been suspected as bot, session suspended, website crashed as placing order, put to back of queue many times, price jumps of over 300%,” one furious fan fumed on X.
One of the main complaints shared by fans was the regarding Ticketmaster’s surge pricing, which allows ticket prices to be raised in according to demand.
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The feature has been around on the website since in 2022, with Ticketmaster explaining that the feature allowed prices to be influenced by market demand – in the same way that prices for hotels and airplane flights do. However, the feature which has previously been used for popular acts such as Harry Styles and Taylor Swift, is a controversial one amongst fans.
“How can you put ‘face value’ standing tickets up from £150 to £355 due to being in demand,” one fan quizzed on social media. “Diabolical.”
“That feeling when you wait in a queue for four hours only to be told the price of the ticket has risen from £148 to… £355??? Because they’re ‘in demand’. How is this not illegal?” a second added.
Ticketmaster has since responded to the backlash, telling LADbible that the site itself does not set the prices for shows which are instead decided on by ‘promoters and artists’.
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Demand for the reunion gigs has been unprecedented (Simon Emmett/Fear PR/PA Wire)
Another complaint fans shared was the website ‘suspending’ their accounts on suspicion of being a bot after they spent hours in online queues.
“Anyone else been in queue only to get to the end and be thought of as a bot so you can’t go any further? Happened all day,” one frustrated fan tweeted yesterday, while a second added: “I’m a 43 year old woman who can’t figure out how to set the digital clock on my oven but Ticketmaster thinks I’m a bot.”
Ticketmaster later responded to the backlash by sharing advice for fans on how to best secure tickets ahead of the sale, which included ‘only using one tab, clear cookies, and ensure they aren’t using any VPN software on their device’.
