WIBU for not paying the full price for my concert ticket?

[rainbowbridge]

Fully prepared to be told I am being unreasonable for this...

So a while back my friend asked me if I wanted to go to a concert for a band we both like. We'd been to see this band together before and this tour was for a new album so I definitely wanted to go see them again. She said she would buy the tickets and I can send her the money at a later date.

The day tickets go on sale she messaged to say she got us the tickets, but thinks she messed up and bought more expensive ones by mistake. I asked how much and she said £40 each which I actually didn't think was too bad and not much more than what we paid last time. I offer to pay and she said to leave it until closer to the time.

A few months later she asks if I can send the money across, I asked her how much it was exactly and she said £50... I felt a bit uncomfortable saying she told me it was cheaper so just made a joke like "wow who do they think they are charging that much haha" and sent her the full £50.

Concert day arrives and she has the tickets in the envelope they came in, and I can see through the window of the envelope that the tickets actually have £70 printed on them... I didn't mention it, then she kept making references to the tickets and making sure the price was always on clear view to me, even leaving them face up on the table when we went for a meal before the concert.

I know it sounds horrible but I was so fed up by this point with the price increasing from £40, then £50, then £70 that I just never brought it up. If she had just said at the beginning that she messed up and bought £70 tickets I wouldn't have minded. It was more the principle that I'd already paid the price she told me and wouldn't just ask me outright for the rest.

"I offered to buy tickets for my friend and I to go and see our favourite band. I saw in ads that tickets were £40 upwards and told my friend she could pay me later. When i went online, all the £40 tickets, sitting together, had gone ! I saw they had £50 tickets, so applied for these...but again they were all random seating !....So, as I'd promised my friend I'd get us tickets, I had to shell out for £70 ones, sitting together. I didn't like to tell my friend as she's notoriously mean with money, and will argue over a few pounds even when we split a bill for a meal, or drinks. It's just too stressful, dealing with her and money. I charged her only for £50, though I could feel her staring fixedly at the tickets when I put them on the table before we went in to our seats...I just COULDN'T bring up the whole kerfuffle about me missing out on the £40/50 tickets, as she would, as usual, start arguing over money yet again. (Needless to say, she had more glasses of wine than me before the concert, then said "oh let's just split the drinks bill !" ...

Not sure why you would feel awkward?

On the face of it YANBU as you were given a price and you paid it.

However, if she's a good friend, I don't think you should take advantage of her feelings of awkwardness. She obviously had anxiety about booking tickets and I would make allowances for that and pay her the difference.

@Torridon19 I know you think you’re making the OP out to be difficult there. But the imagine poster just sounds like a total nightmare.

Just tell people how much it cost so they can pay you the right amount.

In fact, this is exactly the sort of thing you’d phone up/text your friend while booking the sodding tickets to explain and agree that you were just going to book the £70 tickets.

What you don’t do is lie about the price, tell her to pay later. Then increase the price slightly when she pays. And then passive aggressively hint about the real price throughout the night.

That’s how to be a pain in the arse friend. If I behaved like that, I should expect no one to pander to me.

Is there a miscommunication? She said they are more expensive, you asked how much and she said 40, meaning 40 more expensive. She maybe doesn’t want to embarrass you by pointing out you misunderstood, or is embarrassed she wasn’t clear.

Either way, if you can afford it, reimburse her. If you would have agreed to it at the time, reimburse her. If neither of those apply, take the view it was her mistake she should pay. Makes you not a great friend, but that’s your option.

wouldn't just ask me outright for the rest.

Which, she hasn’t done at all, you are just making an assumption that she was hinting at it.

Did you use binocular the wrong way round in the £70 seat to get the same experience as if you had paid £40? If not, cough up and buy your own tickets in future.

Personally, I wouldn't want a friend to be out of pocket in buying me a ticket and I would have offered her the difference of £20

^this. And I also wouldn’t want to lose my friend over £20.