Robert Smith of The Cure is pissed with Ticketmaster’s ridiculously high fees. A few days ago, Smith shared a statement saying that, in regard to the band’s upcoming tour, they had made efforts to have their tickets be affordable for all their fans (you can find this statement below).
However, upon fans buying tickets for this tour, they were hit with quite a surprise. Because alongside the price of the tickets themselves (which seem to be fairly priced), Ticketmaster attached some extremely high fees.
Per a receipt one Twitter user posted: Four tickets together cost them $80 (okay). But, then there was a Service Fee of $11.65 (charged four times for a total of $46.60); then there was a Facility Charge of $10 (charged four times for a total of $40); and lastly, there was one Order Processing Fee for the total of $5.50. Together that’s $92.10 – for tickets that cost $80 already.
Upon hearing about what his fans have been experiencing, Smith went off on Twitter and expressed how he is “sickened” by Ticketmaster’s fees. Per the multiple tweets he posted, Smith expressed the following:
“I AM AS SICKENED AS YOU ALL ARE BY TODAY’S TICKETMASTER ‘FEES’ DEBACLE. TO BE VERY CLEAR: THE ARTIST HAS NO WAY TO LIMIT THEM. I HAVE BEEN ASKING HOW THEY ARE JUSTIFIED. IF I GET ANYTHING COHERENT BY WAY OF AN ANSWER I WILL LET YOU ALL KNOW. X”
He then posted:
“I HAVE BEEN TOLD: StubHub has pulled listings in all markets except NY, Chicago, Denver (IE. CITIES IN STATES THAT HAVE LAWS PROTECTING SCALPERS). PLEASE DON’T BUY FROM THE SCALPERS – THERE ARE STILL TICKETS AVAILABLE – IT IS JUST A VERY SLOW PROCESS… X”
And then he added:
“I WILL BE BACK IF I GET ANYTHING SERIOUS ON THE TM FEES… IN THE MEANTIME, I AM COMPELLED TO NOTE DOWN MY OBVIOUS RECURRING ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM THOUGHT… THAT IF NO-ONE BOUGHT FROM SCALPERS… THEN… X”
It is absolutely absurd for fees to equate to just as much, if not more than, the actual price of the tickets. What do you make of Ticketmaster’s extreme fees?
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TICKET REGISTRATION OPEN NOW AT https://t.co/PkDGUv9w7c #ShowsOfALostWorld23 #TheCure #NorthAmerica pic.twitter.com/KgYQNu3S4F
— The Cure (@thecure) March 10, 2023
I AM AS SICKENED AS YOU ALL ARE BY TODAY’S TICKETMASTER ‘FEES’ DEBACLE. TO BE VERY CLEAR: THE ARTIST HAS NO WAY TO LIMIT THEM. I HAVE BEEN ASKING HOW THEY ARE JUSTIFIED. IF I GET ANYTHING COHERENT BY WAY OF AN ANSWER I WILL LET YOU ALL KNOW. X
— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 16, 2023
I HAVE BEEN TOLD: StubHub has pulled listings in all markets except NY, Chicago, Denver (IE. CITIES IN STATES THAT HAVE LAWS PROTECTING SCALPERS). PLEASE DON’T BUY FROM THE SCALPERS – THERE ARE STILL TICKETS AVAILABLE – IT IS JUST A VERY SLOW PROCESS… X
— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 16, 2023
I WILL BE BACK IF I GET ANYTHING SERIOUS ON THE TM FEES… IN THE MEANTIME, I AM COMPELLED TO NOTE DOWN MY OBVIOUS RECURRING ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM THOUGHT… THAT IF NO-ONE BOUGHT FROM SCALPERS… THEN… X
— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 16, 2023