The Cure’s Robert Smith says Ticketmaster will partially refund “unduly high” ticket fees

Robert Smith of The Cure | Photo by Kevin Estrada, @KevinEstradaPhotography

The brouhaha over ticket sales for The Cure’s much-anticipated North American tour took an unexpected turn Thursday when Robert Smith announced that Ticketmaster had agreed to refund part of the “unduly high” service fees charged to ticket buyers this week.

The Cure’s frontman took to Twitter to announce, in his typical all-caps, that fans who bought the lowest-priced tickets to any of the band’s North American dates — some of those tickets have been priced as low as $20 — through Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan system will receive a $10-per-ticket refund, and anyone who bought tickets at any other price level this week will receive a $5-per-ticket refund.

“After further conversation,” Smith wrote, “Ticketmaster have agreed with us that many of the fees being charged are unduly high, and as a gesture of goodwill” have offered refunds.

The money will be automatically refunded to fans’ Ticketmaster accounts, Smith wrote, and beginning Friday, all tickets on sale for The Cure’s tour “will incur lower fees.”

1 OF 2: 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…

— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 16, 2023

2 OF 2: …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

— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 16, 2023

Smith has taken great pains to explain The Cure’s efforts to keep tickets affordable and to thwart scalpers, including by not using dynamic pricing and by barring the transfer of electronic tickets or their resale at prices above face value, though that’s not possible in New York, Illinois and Colorado, where, according to Ticketmaster, “state law prohibits artists from restricting resale.”

After the Verified Fan presale on Wednesday, a viral tweet showed tickets for one of the band’s North American shows had been priced as low as $20 apiece, but the purchase of four of them — for a total of $80 — was accompanied by an additional $92.10 in fees, raising the per-ticket price to $43.

For that particular purchase, the fees exceeded the cost of the tickets — though it should be noted that it’s not just Ticketmaster assessing the fees; nearly half of the fees in this case were charged by the venue. Of course, many venues are owned by Live Nation, which merged with Ticketmaster in 2010.

That night, Smith wrote on Twitter: “I am just as sickened as you all are by today’s Ticketmaster ‘fees’ debacle. To be very clear: The artist has no way to limit them. I have been asking how they are justified.”

Fans also have complained about being shut out entirely from the Verified Fan presale. Some were sent presale codes in advance that allowed them to get in line, others received codes after the tickets already had gone on sale. And some registered Verified Fan users who were waitlisted never got presale codes at all.

Though Smith originally had said all tickets would be made available through the presale, he tweeted on Thursday night that “a number of tickets” for all of the Cure shows, except the dates in Los Angeles and Detroit (“…a miscommunication? sigh”), were held back for the general on-sale that begins at 10 a.m. local time Friday.

SO… 'VERIFIED FAN' SALES HAVE NOW ENDED – A NUMBER OF TICKETS FOR ALL CURE SHOWS (EXCEPT LA + DETROIT… A MISCOMMUNICATION? sigh… ) WERE HELD BACK FOR 'GENERAL' ON SALE FRIDAY 17TH AT 10AM LOCAL TIME – LINKS WILL BE POSTED IN A BIT… GOOD LUCK X

— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 16, 2023

So for fans who’ve yet to have a chance to buy tickets, there will be more seats put on sale — for most shows.

Below, check out The Cure’s tour dates

The Cure 2023 tour dates

May 10: New Orleans, LA — Smoothie King Center
May 12: Houston, TX — Toyota Center
May 13: Dallas, TX — Dos Equis Pavilion
May 14: Austin, TX — Moody Center
May 16: Albuquerque, NM — Isleta Amphitheater
May 18: Phoenix, AZ — Desert Diamond Arena
May 20: San Diego, CA — NICU Amphitheatre
May 23: Los Angeles, CA — Hollywood Bowl
May 24: Los Angeles, CA — Hollywood Bowl
May 25: Los Angeles, CA — Hollywood Bowl
May 27: San Francisco, CA — Shoreline Amphitheatre
June 1: Seattle, WA — Climate Pledge Arena
June 2: Vancouver, BC — Rogers Arena
June 4: Salt Lake City, UT — Vivint Smart Home Arena
June 6: Denver, CO — Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
June 8: Minneapolis St. Paul, MN — Xcel Energy Center
June 10: Chicago, IL — United Center
June 11: Cleveland, OH — Blossom Music Center
June 13: Detroit, MI — Pine Knob Music Theatre
June 14: Toronto, ON — Budweiser Stage
June 16: Montreal, QC — Bell Centre
June 18: Boston, MA — Xfinity Center
June 20: New York, NY — Madison Square Garden
June 21: New York, NY — Madison Square Garden
June 22: New York, NY — Madison Square Garden
June 24: Philadelphia, PA — Wells Fargo Center
June 25: Columbia, MD — Merriweather Post Pavilion
June 27: Atlanta, GA — State Farm Arena
June 29: Tampa, FL — Amalie Arena
July 1: Miami, FL — Miami-Dade Arena

PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS

• The Cure’s Robert Smith “sickened” by ticket fees, says Verified Fan system “far from perfect”
• The Cure’s plan to keep tickets affordable: No dynamic pricing, face-value resale, no transfers
• The Cure announces 30-date “Shows of a Lost World” North American tour
• The Cure’s deluxe reissue of “Wish” to include 21 unreleased demos, “Lost Wishes” EP
• The Cure’s new album “Songs of a Lost World” could be out by September
• Robert Smith says “MY DESIRE TO RELEASE A NEW ALBUM IS OVERWHELMING!”
• The Cure turns Pasadena Daydream into ‘the best day of the summer’ with scorching set
• The absolute best of The Cure: All 225 songs ranked by Slicing Up Eyeballs’ readers