Robert Smith’s efforts to go after scalpers have resulted in the cancelation of 7,000 tickets to The Cure’s upcoming North American tour.
As part of the on-sale process for the tour, Smith opted out of Ticketmaster’s “platinum” and “dynamically priced” ticket options, and restricted ticket transfers in markets where he was legally allowed to do so (New York, Illinois, and Colorado have all enacted legislation protecting resellers).
As a result, according to Smith, “Approx 7k tickets across approx 2200 orders have been cancelled. These are tickets acquired with fake accounts / listed on secondary resale sites.”
Smith also warned ticket buyers from attempting to circumvent ticket transfer rules. “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,” Smith announced. “..ORIGINAL FEES PAID ON THOSE TICKETS WILL BE DONATED TO AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, AND THE TICKETS THEMSELVES WILL BE RESOLD TO FANS.”
Smith also successfully lobbied Ticketmaster to provide partial refunds to exisiting ticket holders after he determined that they had been charged “unduly high” transaction fees.
The Cure’s first North American tour in seven years commences in May, with seats available via Ticketmaster.
‘IHBT’ #? “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” #ShowsOfALostWorld2023
— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 31, 2023
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BEWARE ANOTHER SCALPER SCAM: 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… #ShowsOfALostWorld23— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 31, 2023
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…ORIGINAL FEES PAID ON THOSE TICKETS WILL BE DONATED TO @amnesty AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, AND THE TICKETS THEMSELVES WILL BE RESOLD TO FANS #ShowsOfALostWorld23— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 31, 2023