A formal investigation into Ticketmaster’s adherence to consumer protection laws concerning the sale of Oasis concert tickets has been launched by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) of the United Kingdom.
Sarah Cardell, chief executive of the CMA, while confirming the development said that investigators will also evaluate whether consumer protection laws were broken and whether purchasers received timely, unambiguous notice that ticket prices could vary.
Newsng gathered that more than 10 million fans from 158 countries lined up on Saturday, August 31, to purchase tour tickets.
Oasis stated in a press release yesterday that “all ticket platforms struggled to cope, resulting in immense frustration and disappointment for fans who missed out after queuing for many hours” and that “unprecedented demand” during the sale led to the addition of two more Wembley Stadium gigs.
To put the magnitude of that demand into perspective, Wembley, the stadium where Oasis is currently scheduled to play seven of the tour’s nineteen dates, can accommodate 90,000 people.
This implies that to satisfy demand for the band’s 2019 tour, 111 performances would have to take place at the stadium.
“It’s important that fans are treated fairly when they buy tickets, which is why we’ve launched this investigation, Cardell said.
“It’s clear that many people felt they had a bad experience and were surprised by the price of their tickets at check-out.
“We want to hear from fans who went through the process and may have encountered issues so that we can investigate whether existing consumer protection law has been breached.”
To determine whether Ticketmaster has violated consumer protection laws, the CMA indicated that it will now interact with the corporation and obtain proof.
We earlier reported that following a significant data breach that exposed the private information of over a half billion users globally, including Canadians, the privacy commissioner of Canada opened an investigation into Ticketmaster.
Privacy Commissioner Philippe Dufresne confirmed the development in a statement.
