Adele fans have been left furious after they accused Ticketmaster of ‘unfair, non-transparent, and exploitative treatment of early ticket buyers’.
Fans of the singer were left feeling ‘betrayed’ as they launched a petition to Change.org to address the issues surrounding the sale of Adele’s run of concerts in Munich, the first of which kicked off on Friday evening.
Over the course of 10 dates the Hello hitmaker will play to a total of 740,000 fans as she headlines the stage at the Munich Messe stadium, which has been custom-built for her stay in the city.
However not all fans have been able to bag a ticket to the show as they called upon Ticketmaster, Live Nation, and Leutgeb Entertainment Group to address fair ticket sales.
They argued that during the presale initial fans were assigned overpriced tickets, while later cheaper tickets where then released.
Titled ‘Expose the SCAM: Ticketmaster, LiveNation & Leutgeb’s Adele Munich Concert Mismanagement’, their statement began: ‘This petition addresses serious issues surrounding Adele’s upcoming 10 concerts in Munich in August 2024.
‘Many fans feel betrayed by Ticketmaster, Live Nation, and Leutgeb Entertainment Group due to their unfair and exploitative ticket sales practices.’
As of Friday evening 841 people had signed the petition, with fans hoping to gain 1,000 signatures.
Explaining the injustice they continued: ‘During the Presale, fans were systematically misled through deceptive practices and artificial scarcity. After being required to sign up for queue links and wait for hours, initial buyers were assigned overpriced tickets, often located far apart.
‘Later, many additional seats were released at cheaper rates better located. The claim, “There will be more demand than there are tickets available,” during the presale registration was a blatant manipulation to pressure people into buying quickly.
‘To make matters worse, new sections right by the stage were recently added at a much lower price. This strategy not only unfairly disadvantaged early buyers but also exposed the Presale as a blatant rip-off.’
The second problem that arose was the inability to transfer or resell tickets, a process that is normally available on the ticketing platforms.
They continued: ‘Many ticket holders who can no longer attend Adele’s shows and wish to sell their overpriced Presale tickets are facing difficulties.
‘The organizers have blocked the option to transfer or resell these tickets, preventing holders from recouping their costs. This has led to increased scamming on platforms like Facebook and eBay.
‘Despite numerous requests from buyers, the organizers have only recently announced that these features will / may be accessible one week before the shows – information that was not disclosed at the time of purchase.
‘This delay has left ticket holders feeling betrayed and misled, as Ticketmaster failed to deliver on their advertised service on time, and now they face potential financial losses with the shows so close.
‘Notably, such features are activated immediately for other concerts.’
Sharing an update on Monday they added: ‘The Resale on Ticketmaster Marketplace remains unavailable, and information on the Website has been changed retroactively, which can be considered as misleading advertising and fraudulent activity.’
Finally they called out the fact the remaining tickets were now being sold for €35 using a last-minute ‘lucky dip’ system to ensure no seats remained empty after struggling to sell them all.
They added: ‘Final insult, tickets are being sold for 35€, not because, as claimed by Klaus Leutgeb, that they are thinking of fans who otherwise couldn’t afford tickets – the promotors don’t care about that – but because many seats would otherwise remain empty.
‘This is another huge slap in the face to everyone who paid ridiculous prices earlier. The promoters are ignoring the legitimate criticism and blocking those who publicly expose these injustices.
‘Fans are deeply frustrated and disappointed by these unfair and misleading practices.
‘This mismanagement has led to widespread dissatisfaction and significant financial and emotional stress, raising concerns about the transparency, fairness, and integrity of the ticketing process. Some fans are even hoping for cancellations due to feeling exploited and misled.’
They concluded with a call to action as they declared: ‘We demand that Ticketmaster, Live Nation, and Leutgeb Entertainment Group:
‘– Address and rectify the unfair, non-transparent, and exploitative treatment of early buyers who paid excessively high prices.– Issue full refunds to misled fans.
‘– Immediately activate Resale for safe and fair ticket transfers. (Update 29.07.2024: It is by now too late. Resale on Ticketmaster Marketplace remains unavailable)
‘With this petition, we aim to expose the unfair practices of Ticketmaster, Live Nation, and Leutgeb Entertainment Group. We demand an end to their overpricing, deceptive, and exploitative ticketing processes and call for a full refund for those affected.’
have contacted both Adele and Ticketmaster representatives for comment.
Adele looked sensational as she took to the stage in Munich for the first date of her ten performance residency in the city on Friday.
The Easy On Me hitmaker, 36, commanded the stage as she wowed in a midnight blue floor length dress as she belted out her hits to the delight of adoring fans.
Opting for her usual glamorous appearance, Adele didn’t disappoint as she wore her blonde tresses down in voluminous curls and accessorised the look with some silver sparkly hoops.
Adele mania has swept the German city as hordes of fans descended upon Munich ahead of the superstar’s much-anticipated residency.
The run of shows is expected to contribute more than half a billion pounds to the local economy of Germany’s third largest city.
The site also features a second stage, where fans were kept entertained by a Spice Girls tribute group and a magician.
Other punters queued for over two hours to get on a special Adele merchandise bus which sold £25 tote bags, £85 hoodies, £3.50 Adele-themed Haribos and £30 umbrellas.
Despite warnings of severe thunderstorms, fans were undeterred as they packed out the 74,000 capacity stadium.
Meanwhile the star, who is known for keeping it candid, was open about her nerves for the show as shared a behind the scene snap admitting she is ‘bl****y s******g herself’ ahead of the performance.
The snap was projected onto the screens at the stadium as she teased fans just over two hours before she is due to appear on stage at 7:30pm.
With her makeup complete, Adele pouted in the image as she sat with her hair in rollers while holding a handwritten sign which read: ‘See you soon! I’m bl***y s*****g myself’ alongside a smiley face.
Before the concert, spoke to the crowds of adoring fans who had already gathered en masse at the venue, with one devoted fan even rocking custom Adele Crocs.
The supporter called Daniel was certainly strolling in the deep as he modelled the comfy white shoes which was adorned with images of the star and various song names.
As well as his Crocs, Daniel proved his dedication to attending the show as he detailed his family’s ‘fiddly’ journey from the UK to Germany as they attempted to save money on the trip.
He told : ‘I’m really pleased at how we managed to save an absolute fortune by not flying Birmingham to Munich, which was an option.
‘Instead we trained to a London airport then went to Duesseldorf and trained to Munich and stayed twenty mins outside the city as the hotel prices are low, then we can just train into the centre for 4 euros.
‘It’s all been quite fiddly but it’s meant each of us has been able to save over 1,000 pounds – which is more than the total price of the holiday – flight, hotel and ticket. This is importantly as the extra cash means we can enjoy ourselves a bit and have some drinks and meals.’
He added: ‘This has been fun so far although it’s hard to just get still water instead of sparkled, and the customer service has been pretty gruff when it came to paying.’
However, despite saving over £1k on travel from Birmingham, Daniel was still shocked at the ‘astronomical’ prices of merchandise.
He shared: ‘I’m very tempted to get some merch at the concert but the prices are astronomical so so far I’m just enjoying lapping up all the compliments I’m getting about my Crocs.’