Harry Styles fan left struggling to pay rent after spending hundreds on tour tickets
Ali Condon
Featured Image Credit: PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo Paul Froggatt / Alamy Stock Photo
Hundreds of thousands of Harry Styles fans rejoiced this week after managing to get their hands on tickets for his 2023 tour - but some ticket-holders aren't exactly thrilled.
Music lovers far and wide were falling over themselves on Thursday (1 September) to secure their spot at one of Harry's 'Love On Tour' gigs, forking over big money for a chance to see the pop star perform.
But one fan was left fuming when they snagged a pair of tickets only to realise the extortionate amount of money they had spent on them.
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One fan, who wishes not to be identified, and their pal had each saved up £155 to spend on the coveted tickets and logged into Ticketmaster on Thursday morning, like every other Harry Styles fan.
It was a race to the checkout but, after a full website crash and a lot of buffering, they had finally made it to the finish line.
However, in the frenzy of it all, they didn't realise that they had actually spent an eye-watering £697.45 on the pair of tickets.
We'd all love to see Hazza play live, but this is just insane.
Speaking to the Birmingham Mail, the fan explained that they didn't realise the extortionate price hike until it was too late.
"I would not have paid that amount willingly as I can’t afford it," they claimed.
"At this price, I’m now going to struggle with basic things like grocery shopping and covering my rent. The prices are absolutely not fair in the current cost of living crisis."
The fan said that, although they're a huge fan of the 'Late Night Talking' singer, they're going to have to ask for a refund on the tickets.
But how did the prices jump from £155 to almost £350 in the space of a few minutes?
That'd be down to Ticketmaster's 'dynamic pricing' system, which can causes prices to rise as demand for tickets does, leaving fans with no choice but to spend significantly more than they had planned if they want to see their favourite musician.
And they wasn't the only one who was left disappointed by the surprise price hike.
Devastated fans took to Twitter after being caught out by the exact same problem.
"It should be illegal for Ticketmaster to double ticket prices because of 'high demand'," complained one furious Twitter user. "How is that fair? Some people paid £160 for pods and others paid £300 when it's the same space."
A second tweeted: "'What's a scam that's become so normalised we don't even realise it's a scam anymore?' Ticketmaster doubling or tripling their original ticket prices due to demand."
"I'm sorry this should be illegal", added a third. "Ticketmaster have raised the price of Harry Styles Love On Tour tickets by double!"
“What’s a scam that’s become so normalised we don’t even realise it’s a scam anymore?” Ticketmaster doubling or tripling their original ticket prices due to demand
— linds ◟̽◞̽ (@bluebirdslouis) September 2, 2022
I’m sorry this should be illegal. Ticket master have raised the price of Harry styles love on tour tickets by double! I literally paid €165 a hour ago for this exact ticket and now they are €330 #LoveOnTour2023 #HarryStylesLoveOnTour #Ticketmaster pic.twitter.com/PjGQcLKOzy
— Orla☁️ (@Orlamargaret) September 1, 2022
Tyla has contacted Ticketmaster for comment.