Thousands of Scalped Cure Tickets Canceled, Tickets Will Be Resold + Fees Will Go to Charity
Robert Smith really wasn't messing around with tickets for The Cure's upcoming tour. Not only did he get fans a partial refund from Ticketmaster for their high fees a few weeks ago, but now he's had thousands of scalped Cure tickets canceled, and will donate the proceeds to a charity.
When The Cure initially announced the tour earlier this month, which will be their first since 2016, the band issued a statement assuring that they didn't opt into Ticketmaster's "dynamic pricing" or "platinum" ticketing options — both of which have caused a massive spike in ticket prices over the last few years. Thus, they used the "Verified Fan" tool, created a fair price range for their tickets and made it so that tickets wouldn't be transferrable once they were purchased — fans who may potentially have to sell their tickets can do so at face value only.
"It is a greedy scam — and all artists have the choice not to participate," Smith tweeted of Ticketmaster's "dynamic pricing." "If no artists participated, it would cease to exist."
However, fans — and Smith alike — were shocked to see that Ticketmaster's fees for certain locations were even higher than the face value of the ticket. So, the singer went directly to the source, and got Ticketmaster to issue partial refunds to fans for the high cost of the fees. He further urged fans not to purchase tickets through resale vendors.
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It appears that tickets have ended up in the hands of scalpers, though. Earlier today (March 31), Smith tweeted, "Beware another scalper scam: Offering to sell/send account login details to get around Ticketmaster 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."
As of this afternoon, the frontman confirmed that about 7,000 tickets across 2,200 ticket orders have been canceled due to having been purchased with fake accounts or listed on resale sites.
The Cure's tour kicks off May 10 in New Orleans, La., and wraps up June 1 in Miami, Fla. See the full schedule at this location.