Robert Smith is proving he's got his fans' backs. When The Cure announced their first US tour in seven years last week, they made it a point to ensure affordable seats. Before tickets went on sale, the band shared a statement explaining how, in an effort to keep tickets out of the hands of scalpers, they would be non-transferable. They also said Ticketmaster agreed to forgo its "dynamic pricing" model that increases the price depending on demand.
There was one thing the band seemingly couldn't control — fees — and when fans began reporting Ticketmaster's charges were so high that they cost the same amount as the ticket itself, the frontman said he was "as sickened as you all are" about the issue and that he had been asking the ticketing platform "how they are justified." Apparently, his hounding paid off, because Smith shared another update with fans revealing he was able to convince Ticketmaster to not only lower their fees when tickets went on sale to the general public on Friday (March 17), but also issue refunds to those who purchased them through the Verified Fan presale.
"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 wrote in a pair of tweets. "...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"
See Smith's tweets below.