The Oasis ticket sales process has been defended by the head of the ticketing industry body, after prices soared as fans queued online.
Many fans were angered by the increase in ticket prices when sales resumed on Saturday, while others gave up queuing or were kicked out of the system while they waited.
Rachael Board from Devon, told BBC News she’d woken up “feeling like she’d been completely ripped off” after paying £495 for a ticket, far higher than the £150 she’d intended to pay.
But the ticketing website was praised for being able to cope with “overwhelming demand” by Jonathan Brown, chief executive of the Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers, who confirmed the prices set by the band.
Throughout Saturday, hundreds of thousands of fans waited online to get tickets in the hope of seeing Oasis live again, 15 years after the group broke up.
Ms Board said she decided to pay when she finally got to the front of the online queue because she was “caught up in the vibe”, but now questions whether tickets for one of the Wembley shows were worth it.
“I’ll be stuck paying on my credit card,” he said, adding that he didn’t get “any extras” despite paying the higher prices. “That’s just greed.”
Also among those waiting is government minister Lucy Powell.
The House of Commons leader bought two tickets to Manchester in July for £350 each.
He told BBC Radio 5 Live: “In the end (I) got it and bought a few more tickets than I wanted.”
He said he was not “particularly happy” about the price hike, but added: “That’s the market and the way it works.”
He added: “You have to be transparent about this so that when people arrive after a few hours of waiting, they know that the ticket will be more expensive.”
“Dynamic pricing” on Ticketmaster, where prices rise in line with demand, has sparked criticism from many fans, after some tickets were set at more than £350 – up from £135 when sales started earlier in the day.
Mr Brown said BBC prices were set “by artists and management”.
Oasis and the band’s promoters have been asked to respond to this.
Dynamic pricing is not new and is allowed under consumer protection laws.
Mr Brown highlighted how price increases are also being used to book hotels and travel tickets.
“People are used to these price changes,” he said. “I think it’s unfair when the train ticket is higher than I expected.”
Asked why there was a spike in prices later in the day when there was always high demand from the beginning, he said he did not know.
When he accepted that not everything was done perfectly, he said that people “underestimated” what a great operation it is and praised the ticketing website for dealing with great requests.
Mr Brown said technology was being used to differentiate between bots and humans. Actions taken by customers, such as quickly refreshing the screen or using a VPN, can be seen to mimic bots, he said.
“You have to have something that can reject those bots, otherwise the tickets are really unfair to the people who are going to resell them,” he said.
During the ticket sales process, concerns were also raised about ticket touting – where secondary sites sell tickets at inflated prices.
Ms Powell said Labor had promised in its manifesto to tackle ticket touting, and there would be a consultation in the autumn.
Noel and Liam Gallagher announced on Tuesday that they had parted ways, confirming the band’s reunion.
The group broke up in 2009 after a fight between the brothers at the Rock en Seine festival in Paris.
Oasis’ comeback tour sold out on Sunday evening for all of the band’s announced dates for the UK and Ireland next summer.
Separately, the BBC also understands that the Information Commissioner’s Office is “inquiring” after the data breach Ticketmaster suffered in June.
ShinyHunters hackers say they have stolen personal details of 560 million subscribersincluding name, address, telephone number and partial credit card details.
Ticketmaster has not responded to a request for comment on the ICO’s inquiries.
