Ticketmaster refunds fans after The Cure’s Robert Smith ‘sickened’ by pricing debacle

Maarch 21, 2023

The Cure’s lead vocalist Robert Smith is fighting back against Ticketmaster and its excessively high concert fees, reports Fox Business.

After Ticketmaster received much criticism for the hefty price tag on their concert fees, Smith took to Twitter to share an update with his fans and expressed his resentment towards the company.

“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,” Smith said in a tweet on Wednesday, March 15.

The British rock band’s comments come on the heels of outspoken fans addressing their concerns about high fees on low ticket prices for The Cure’s North American tour.

Fans broke down the cost on social media and shared screenshots of their ticket transaction. What was supposed to be a $20 band ticket resulted to nearly double the price with unfamiliar fees—including service fee, facility charge, and order processing fee.

“So @thecure and @RobertSmith wanted to keep ticket prices at a reasonable level for fans on their upcoming North American tour dates. Of course @Ticketmaster absolutely rinsed them with ridiculous extra charges …” a fan tweeted. “wtf even is a service fee or a facility charge or processing fee??”

The 63-year-old singer revealed his decision to work with Ticketmaster was to avoid ticket scalpers. Smith announced that he teamed up with Ticketmaster to reduce concert costs and promises fans a partial refund.

“1 of 2: After further conversation, Ticketmaster have agreed with us that many of the fees being charged are unduly high, and as a gesture of goodwill have offered a $10 per ticket refund to all verified fan accounts for lowest ticket price (‘ltp’) transactions…” he said in a tweet on Thursday.

“2 of 2: … And a $5 per ticket refund to all verified fan accounts for all other ticket price transactions, for all Cure shows at all venues; if you already bought a ticket you will get an automatic refund; all tickets on sale tomorrow will incur lower fees.”

The following day, the “Lullaby” singer continued to explain to fans the issues they may have faced when purchasing The Cure concert tickets.

“1 of 2: This morning 6 shows were prematurely activated for face value exchange prior to face value price restrictions being put in place. The problem was immediately corrected. However, about 900 tickets were purchased above face value…” Smith pointed out.

“2 of 2: All of these buyers are in the process of being contacted and will be automatically refunded to face value,” he assured. 

Ticketmaster additionally updated fans about the refund and stated they’ve been working with The Cure to resolve the high ticket costs.

“This was on our radar early this morning and has already been resolved—refunds are in progress to fans for any costs over original ticket price. We stand with the band on their decision to use a Face Value Exchange and it will be enforced on our marketplace,” Ticketmaster wrote on their Twitter.

The Cure is slated to start their tour on May 10 in New Orleans and end on July 1 in Miami.

Research contact: @FoxBusiness