Which? calls on Oasis and Ticketmaster to refund fans affected by inflated ticket prices

Consumer group Which? has called on Oasis and Ticketmaster to refund fans left out of pocket after ticket prices for the band’s reunion tour soared unexpectedly.

Ticket prices for the highly anticipated Oasis Tour more than doubled, jumping from £148 to as much as £355 on Ticketmaster due to surging demand, leading to public outrage and prompting the Government and the UK’s competition watchdog to investigate the use of dynamic pricing.

Following the controversy, Which? asked Oasis fans to send in screenshots of the ticket-buying and checkout process to see if they were warned that ticket prices could surge due to high levels of demand.

Which? said it received dozens of screenshots from fans who had tried to buy tickets – both before and after prices increased – none of which showed a warning message that Ticketmaster would increase prices during the sale.

Instead, Which? said it saw evidence that fans were shown one price for tickets, only to have that price taken away at the last second and replaced with a far higher, and unexpected, ticket price.

Which? cited one screenshot showing that due to “in demand” pricing, the cost of standing tickets at a Heaton Park show – originally advertised for £148.50 – surged to £337.50 each.

Under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (CPRs), traders must not mislead consumers with how prices are presented or leave out key pricing information that they might need to make an informed decision about their purchase.

Which? said many fans were not informed about the increases until after they had already tried to add cheaper tickets to their baskets.

A section of Ticketmaster’s purchase policy explaining dynamic pricing on the company’s website. Credit: Yui Mok/PA

While the use of “dynamic pricing” was mentioned in the terms and conditions on the website, fans were not warned that this practice would be used for Oasis tickets, the watchdog said.

Last week the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched an investigation into Ticketmaster over the sale.

The CMA said its investigation would include how so-called “dynamic pricing” may have been used and would scrutinise whether the sale of Oasis tickets by Ticketmaster may have breached consumer protection law.

Ticketmaster has said it does not set concert prices and its website states this is down to the “event organiser” who “has priced these tickets according to their market value”.

Oasis has previously stated that they had no involvement in the decision to implement dynamic pricing.

Which? said it would share its findings with the CMA.

Over the weekend, Oasis sent out invites for a private invite-only ballot for their “final” Wembley Stadium dates, having extended their Live ’25 tour to include two more London shows on September 27 and 28.

Which? consumer law expert Lisa Webb said: “It seems extremely unfair that Oasis fans got up early and battled through the queues only to find that ticket prices had more than doubled from the originally advertised price.

“Which? believes that Ticketmaster’s ‘in demand’ pricing practices for Oasis tickets could have breached consumer law as it appears fans weren’t properly warned about the use of ‘in demand’ pricing until far too late in the purchase journey – leading to a nasty shock at the checkout.

“Oasis and Ticketmaster should do the right thing and refund fans who may have been misled into paying over the odds for tickets that would have been half the price just hours earlier.”

A Ticketmaster spokeswoman said: “Fans can resell their Oasis tickets at the full price they paid through Ticketmaster or Twickets.”