sprint
Axe-Master
Here's my take: It absolutely does have everything to do with RS - they are a business with emolyees, contractors and managers to manage them. If an emolyee or contractor working directly for RS is ripping off the customers, RS management will want/need to do something about it, and if RS management does nothing about it, the business owners (Mick and Keef) may want to do something about it depending on the magnitude, or might regret not doing something about it if the wrong person gets ripped off in the wrong way and it goes viral. Of course Mick and Keef had no clue about the specific situation as it transpired, just as no business owner has a clue about such shit UNTIL that shit bubbles up to their level somehow and then: heads can roll, and the business owner likely then asks management why they were not aware of it and why they did not inform him/her at the weekly status call.this experience has nothing to do with the Stones
Paying 500$ for any band is a crime on it's own.
In capitalist countries this is called wild success - the buyer got what they wanted for an amount they were eager to pay - the seller got rich.