LAST UPDATE | 2 Sep
THE CONSUMER WATCHDOG has said it believes there are “legitimate concerns” around customers’ experiences when buying tickets this weekend and has launched a review into the matter.
The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), in a statement to The Journal, said its review will “consider all options to ensure consumer protection law is followed”.
It comes as hundreds of Oasis fans were left shocked when they found that prices for standing tickets had rocketed by the time they got through the online queues on the website on Saturday morning.
Consumer law requires businesses to provide information to consumers prior to purchase, including the total price and taxes.
Businesses are allowed to decide the price of the product that they sell and they are permitted to adjust prices in response to demand or other factors, once the first price is advertised to customers well in advance of the sale.
This is done so consumers can decide whether or not to proceed. The CCPC can decide to investigate and probe instances where it believes these responsibilities may not have been fulfilled.
In a statement this afternoon, Enterprise ministers Peter Burke and Dara Calleary emphasised their commitment to ensuring these lawful obligations are fulfilled by all traders following the weekend’s ticket sales.
“It is vital that consumers are aware of their rights and my Department will continue to work with the CCPC on protecting consumers in this area,” Calleary said.
Earlier, Taoiseach Simon Harris said Ticketmaster’s “monopoly” over tickets to gigs in Ireland is something that “deserves more probing”.
He added that Enterprise Minister Peter Burke is engaging with the independent CCPC on the issue and believes that more should be done to investigate surcharging.
“The monopoly held by one company is something that I think does deserve probing and also the issue around surcharges and the like,” he told reporters this afternoon.
The Taoiseach added: “If there’s actions government needs to take in terms of the future, let’s look at that, let’s take action in relation that.
“But I think there’s a bad taste in the mouths of people here in relation to pricing, surcharge, and we do have to be conscious we are dealing with a monopoly situation here as well.”
Many politicians in Ireland and in the United Kingdom have since come out to voice opposition to the practice of ‘dynamic pricing’ after some fans were quoted €415.60 each for “In Demand Standing” tickets at the weekend.
Sinn Féin Leader Mary Lou McDonald earlier said working class Oasis fans “who got them where they are” are being “thrown under the bus” over the pricing system, which saw the cost of concert tickets surge.
In Dublin this morning, McDonald said that the pricing system was “crazy”.
“The dynamic pricing … to me it’s crazy that permission would be given for concerts, without any notification as to the cost of tickets. I think it just needs to stop,” she said.
She said the party had raised the issue of dynamic pricing previously.
McDonald added: “This has happened with Oasis, but it’s happened with other concert and other acts as well. It’s completely unfair. You enter into a lottery, really, in terms of getting your tickets, rather than a straight transaction.
The leader of the opposition said that regardless of what tickets the gig is for, a consumer should have equal opportunity to get access to those tickets, to right to know the price ranges of each ticket and that they’re set at fixed prices.
“But this dynamic pricing has to end. It needs to be dealt with,” she said. “We’ve called for it before, and I’m very glad now, maybe they’re all Oasis fans, that they’ve actually find any woken up to the fact that this is happening,” she said.
“About 500 quid nearly for a ticket. Come on.”
The Ticketmaster website said the prices of platinum and in-demand tickets were set according to their market value and were subject to change. When asked about this issue by the PA news agency, Ticketmaster made clear it does not set the prices.
It is understood that the prices are set by the promoters, not the artists.
Fine Gael MEP Regina Doherty has said that the organisers of the gig must answer questions over the pricing of the tickets. She previously called for an investigation to be launched by the CCPC.
“In the interest of being fair to the fans who both bought tickets and those who couldn’t, I think the organisers should share information about how many tickets were sold, when they were sold and at what price. I also think clarification over who decided to use the ‘in-demand’ pricing model is required,” the Dublin MEP said.
While thousands got the chance to buy prized tickets to the Croke Park concerts, many thousands more never made it that far and missed out completely.
The sales window opened at 8am on Saturday – an hour earlier than for the UK gigs – and within minutes the online queue for both nights was in excess of 500,000 people.
Includes reporting by Press Association and Muiris O’Cearbhaill
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