LONDON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Britain's competition
regulator has secured commitments from Ticketmaster to ensure
customers are fully informed about prices after complaints about
the sale of tickets for British band Oasis's tour in the summer,
the watchdog said on Thursday.
Thousands of fans waited for hours online to get their hands
on tickets for Oasis's reunion shows, only to find prices had
jumped by the time they got to the front of the queue.
"The changes we've secured will give fans more
information about prices and clear descriptions of exactly what
they are getting for their money," Competition and Markets
Authority Chief Executive Sarah Cardell said.
"If Ticketmaster fails to deliver on these changes, we
won't hesitate to take further action."
The commitments from Ticketmaster, owned by Live Nation
, were provided voluntarily and without any admission of
wrongdoing or liability, the CMA said.
It said it had not found any evidence that Ticketmaster
used algorithmic pricing during the Oasis sale - with ticket
prices adjusted in real time according to changing conditions
like high demand - despite many fans believing that to be the
case.
Ticketmaster said it welcomed the CMA's confirmation
that there was no dynamic pricing, no unfair practices and no
breach of consumer law.
"To further improve the customer experience, we've
voluntarily committed to clearer communication about ticket
prices in queues," the company said in a statement.
"This builds on our capped resale, strong bot
protection, and clear pricing displays - and we encourage the
CMA to hold the entire industry to these same standards."