Robert Smith Just Got Ticketmaster To Issue The Cure Fans a Partial Refund – Here’s How
With The Cure's first North American tour since 2016 set for later this year, Robert Smith fought valiantly to maintain control over reasonable ticket prices through Ticketmaster and now he just got the vendor to agree to issue partial refunds to the tour's ticket holders over 'unduly high' fees.
After becoming aware that some fans were paying more in fees than the original cost of the ticket, Smith said he was just as "sickened" as everyone else by what was going on.
Prior to tickets going on sale, The Cure worked closely with the ticketing agency (owned by Live Nation) to ensure fans wouldn't have to face astronomical ticket costs as part of the company's dynamic/surge pricing model. It's a practice Smith went as far as to call as "scam."
The aim was also to reduce scalping through Ticketmaster's Verified Fan program and put tickets in the hands of customers who have actual intent on attending the show rather than snatching them up to list them on a resale site almost immediately after.
READ MORE: Some The Cure Fans Are Paying More in Fees Than the Original Ticket Price + They're Mad
In response to these exorbitant fees, Smith demanded answers from Ticketmaster and has since come back with a pretty huge update — one fans are celebrating as heroic move by the goth/new wave icon (see reactions further down the page).
"After further conversation, Ticketmaster have agreed with us that many of the fees being charged are unduly high," he writes on Twitter, and as a gesture of goodwill have offered a $10 per ticket refund to all Verified Fan accounts for lowest ticket prices ('LTP') transcations and a $5 per ticket refund to all Verified Fan accounts for all other ticket price transactions, for all Cure shows at all venues."
Smith continues, "If you already bought a ticket you will get an automatic refund; all tickets on sale tomorrow will incur lower fees."
Smith has been keeping fans in the loop on Twitter all week, even sharing when he doesn't have all the information but expresses he will let us all know as soon as he does.
Here, he alerts fans who have yet to purchase tickets to stay tuned for what shows will still have tickets left to purchase now that the Verified Fan part of the sale is over.
The Future of Music Coalition tweeted that Smith's efforts establish an "encouraging precedent" that other artists should take note of — "When you speak up (with both conviction and nuance), you can make new things possible."
Smith also retweeted this message.
READ MORE: Ticketmaster Plan to Salvage Reputation by Educating Customers, Lawmakers About Fees
This year, The Cure are expected to released Songs of a Lost World, their first original album since 2008's 4:13 Dream, which should include new songs "Alone" and "Endsong," which were debuted live in October of 2022.
See all of The Cure's North American tour dates here.
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