Adele Fans Launch Petition Against Ticketmaster Over Munich Show Ticket Sales: 'Unfair and Exploitative'

Outraged Adele fans have expressed their discontent with Ticketmaster, alleging that the company's treatment of early ticket purchasers was "unfair and exploitative" in a petition.

Disappointed fans took action by initiating a petition on Change.org to highlight concerns related to the ticket sales for Adele's series of performances in Munich, Germany -- titled "Adele in Munich" -- which began Friday night.

Across 10 performances, the "Rolling In the Deep" hitmaker will sing her greatest hits for a total of 740,000 fans at the Munich Messe, a stadium constructed specially for her residency in the city.

However, some fans claimed that they became victims of "unfair and exploitative ticket sales practices" by Ticketmaster, Live Nation, and Leutgeb Entertainment Group when they secured their tickets for Adele's shows.

In the petition titled, "Expose the SCAM: Ticketmaster, LiveNation & Leutgeb's Adele Munich Concert Mismanagement," -- which is close to achieving its 1,000 signature goal -- concerns were raised regarding the prices of tickets, with some fans claiming that early buyers were charged higher rates than those who purchased tickets later on.

"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," the petition claimed.

Following the initial release, many discounted seats in prime locations allegedly became available. The claim made during the presale sign-up that demand would exceed ticket supply was a tactic aimed at coercing swift purchases, the petition alleged.

"This strategy not only unfairly disadvantaged early buyers but also exposed the Presale as a blatant rip-off," its description read.

Another issue also emerged when fans allegedly encountered difficulties while trying to transfer or resell tickets -- a feature typically supported by ticketing platforms.

Expressing their concerns, they highlighted the predicament faced by numerous ticket holders who were unable to make it to Adele's concerts and sought to offload their premium presale tickets.

"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," the petition claimed.

"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," it continued. "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."

In the end, it was announced that the last few tickets would be available for purchase at €35 ($38) through a spontaneous "lucky dip" method to prevent any vacant seats, as there had been difficulty selling them all.

The petition claimed that as a "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."

Petitioners called it "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," the petition alleged. "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."

According to the petitioners, they want Ticketmaster, Live Nation, and Leutgeb Entertainment Group to "address and rectify the unfair, non-transparent, and exploitative treatment of early buyers who paid excessively high prices, issue full refunds to misled fans, and immediately activate Resale for safe and fair ticket transfers."

One person who signed the petition commented, "I bought tickets on the first day of presale for €289 ($316) each, the seats selection was very limited."

She continued, "Later on many tickets were added, better seats and also tickets for cheaper prices. How is that possible, that they were not available during pre-sale? Putting the most devoted, motivated fans in the disadvantaged position. Really disappointing."

Another alleged, "I had 2 tickets - I paid nearly €600 ($656) each. My flight was canceled, I couldn't get there so I missed the show and am not hugely out of pocket."

"Concert tickets are far too expensive and the ticket companies act unfairly," a third wrote. "They need to be brought into line."

Adele and Ticketmaster have not publicly responded to the allegations.

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