By John Dingwall
The UK competition watchdog has written to Ticketmaster threatening legal action over its 鈥渕isleading鈥 methods of selling tickets for the Oasis reunion tour, which kicks off this week. Among other things, the watchdog is concerned Ticketmaster misled fans including selling ‘platinum’ tickets that had no additional benefits. In March, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) warned that Ticketmaster had “breached the law” and “misled fans” during the sale of the Oasis briefs last summer. It launched an investigation following the controversy surrounding the Oasis Live ’25 ticket sale that thousands of fans paying way over the odds for tickets. Many were infuriated as the cost of tickets surged due to demand without warning. Some ended up paying Ticketmaster over 拢350 for tickets which had an initial face value of 拢150. The watchdog was concerned that Ticketmaster may have 鈥渂reached consumer protection law鈥 in two main ways. One of these concerns involved the labelling certain seated tickets as 鈥榩latinum鈥 which were sold for up to 鈥渘ear 2.5 times the price of equivalent standard tickets, without sufficiently explaining that they did not offer additional benefits and were often located in the same area of the stadium鈥. They claim this misled customers into thinking platinum tickets were better than standard tickets. Secondly, Ticketmaster may also have broken the law by not informing consumers that there were two categories of standing tickets at different prices. It added that all of the cheaper tickets were sold first before the more expensive tickets were released, leading to customers waiting for long periods without understanding they would have to pay more. Last year, Oasis blamed its management for the dynamic pricing fiasco. The band said it was “not aware” the system would be used and that the decision was instead made during meetings between Ticketmaster, promoters and management. A statement by the band shortly after the sale went ahead, said: “As for the well reported complaints many buyers had over the operation of dynamic ticketing: it needs to be made clear that Oasis leave decisions on ticketing and pricing entirely to their promoters and management, and at no time had any awareness that dynamic pricing was going to be used. “While prior meetings between promoters, Ticketmaster and the band’s management resulted in a positive ticket sale strategy, which would be a fair experience for fans, including dynamic ticketing to help keep general ticket prices down as well as reduce touting, the execution of the plan failed to meet expectations. “All parties involved did their utmost to deliver the best possible fan experience, but due to the unprecedented demand this became impossible to achieve.” Oasis will play three Scottish shows as part of their reunion tour at the Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh. Some fans heading to the dates north of the border have complained the sales tactic of dynamic pricing led them to pay far more for tickets than they had planned. The Competition and Markets Authority previously warned that Ticketmaster may have misled fans over the use of platinum tickets and the alleged selling of standing tickets at two different price points.