The Cure have cancelled over 7,000 tickets to their US tour in a bid to tackle touts.
Frontman Robert Smith has been vocal about his desire for fans to see the group’s show without paying inflated prices while also restricting ticket transfers in markets where he was legally allowed to do so in places like New York, Illinois, and Colorado – which have all enacted legislation protecting resellers – and now he’s confirmed listings on secondary resale sites have been blocked.
He tweeted on Friday (31.03.23) night: “Approx 7k tickets across approx 2200 orders have been cancelled. These are tickets acquired with fake accounts / listed on secondary resale sites. TM have identified specific locations from secondary postings.(sic)”
He urged fans who felt their orders had been “wrongly cancelled” to contact Ticketmaster customer services.
Earlier in the day, he had warned ticket buyers not to try and “get around” transferring rules or also face cancellations.
He wrote: “OFFERING TO SELL/SEND ACCOUNT LOGIN DETAILS TO GET AROUND TM TRANSFER LIMITATIONS… ANY/ALL TICKETS OBTAINED IN THIS WAY WILL BE CANCELED, AND ORIGINAL FEES PAID ON THOSE TICKETS WILL NOT BE REFUNDED.
“..ORIGINAL FEES PAID ON THOSE TICKETS WILL BE DONATED TO AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, AND THE TICKETS THEMSELVES WILL BE RESOLD TO FANS.(sic)”
Earlier this month, fans secured partial refunds after the ‘Lovecats’ singer said he was “sickened” by the inflated fees being charged by Ticketmaster, with some gig-goers claiming the add-on was more than the ticket price itself.
He wrote: “I am sickened as you all are by today’s Ticketmaster fees debacle. To be 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.”
Robert also took aim at the company’s dynamic pricing strategy which changes the cost of tickets according to demand, branding it “a scam”.
He added: “We didn’t agree to the ‘dynamic pricing’/’price surging’/’platinum ticket’ thing … because it is itself a bit of a scam? A separate conversation.”
However, Ticketmaster bosses seemingly heeded Smith’s complaints and the veteran rocker later confirmed many fans would be getting some of their money back.
He added: “After further conversation, Ticketmaster have agreed with us that many of the fees being charged were 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.
“And a $5 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 Cure will kick off their 2023 North American dates on May 10 in New Orleans, Louisiana and conclude the trek on July 1 in Miami, Florida.