Luke Combs and Eric Church’s Hurricane Helene benefit show’s ticket price fluctuation infuriates fans

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA: Tickets for country singers Luke Combs and Eric Church's concert in North Carolina to raise funds for Hurricane Helene's relief efforts went on sale on Thursday, October 10.

Amid extremely high demand for the show, fans noticed the ticket prices were fluctuating. Many observed that the ticket rate they chose on the online chart did not match the amount in their cart at the time of checkout, according to local news station WBTV.

The event named Concert for Carolina is scheduled for October 26 at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Touching down on September 26 and continuing until the 29th, Hurricane Helene devastated the southeastern region of the United States. Hundreds of lives were lost and thousands lost their homes.

Hurricane Helene caused landslides and flash floods across Florida’s Gulf Coast after growing from a Category 1 into a Category 4 hurricane within a day.

Singers' team attributes price range over $500 to 'dynamic pricing'

The concert, headed by North Carolina natives Luke Combs and Eric Church would also include musicians Billy Strings, James Taylor, Keith Urban, Bailey Zimmerman, and Sheryl Crow, along with other undisclosed names.

Photos displayed at the box office showed ticket prices ranged from $45 to $500 based on seating location. Nevertheless, online ticket seekers encountered high prices of over $500.

Alex Giles, a WBTV reporter, posted the stadium chart before the ticket went for sale on X (formerly Twitter.) According to this, the lower-level seats near the stage are priced at a maximum of $500.

Following complaints about the unreasonable fluctuation, Combs and Church's spokesperson said in a statement that "dynamic pricing" had been enabled to change the ticket prices, which would fluctuate based on the current demand on the site at the time of buying the tickets.

"As a matter of process, dynamic pricing was implemented during on sale. It’s important to remember that this allowed us to maximize the charitable contributions to this important cause," the statement read.

"We are thrilled with the response and the heart of our music community to help those who need our support. 100% of proceeds will go to the charities identified by Luke Combs and Eric Church. Additionally, Ticketmaster waived its fees, leaving only the incremental cost of taxes and credit card fees."

A spokesperson for Ticketmaster responded to the changing process that went beyond $500 despite the box office capping the rate at $500, claiming the company did not determine the rate and had no algorithms to fluctuate it.

Country music fans voice outrage over changing ticket prices

Fans online slammed the fluctuating ticket prices that went beyond listed rates in the middle of purchase. Many directed their outrage, targeting Luke Combs, Eric Church, and Ticketmaster.

"It was frustrating and disingenuous for customers. If I click ‘add to cart’ the price shouldn’t change after that.. and it did multiple times as I tried to buy tickets. Most other industries consider that fraudulent sales tactics," a user wrote.

"The whole ticket industry is a scam. Maybe worse than insurance," another added.

"Tickets in Section 520, row 20 were $65 and increased to $115 (before fees) when I put them in my cart. Absolutely horrible of Ticketmaster," a third user said.

"I thought I was going crazy, I put $125 tickets in my cart and didn't notice that they'd jumped to $275 each until after I'd placed my order. According to this map they should've been $95 in the first place," a fourth response read.

"This is ridiculous," an individual remarked.

"To follow up my earlier post, this is really such a shame to us fans who love your music and wanna help hurricane victims. Ticketmaster was gonna ruin it from the start, but luke combs and eric church knew better," someone else wrote.

"I was online, never saw one ticket that cheap. What i could have paid $95 for was going for over $220," another user said.

"Was a great idea until you let ticketmaster get a hold of it, not sure yall had $2000 tickets in mind and ticketmaster raking in millions in fees," one user added.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.