can I get a refund?

hamaradam

I bought my friend and I a couple of tickets to attend a 'mini festival' event. I used my credit card. we went purely to see 2 of the five big acts billed to appear. We paid £31 per ticket. I was informed by letter, by the organiser, that the event was to be changed to indoor, to a different place. I assumed this would be due to poor ticket sales. We arrived on the day, it was last saturday. Hardly anyone was there at the entrance....a bad sign. We exchanged our tickets for wristbands and went inside the venue, again very few in there. I was beginning to feel suspicious...I noticed a girl giving out flyers for new events and asked her if she could give us a list of todays who was appearing at what time, this she did, I noticed no 5 big names...just local student bands...I queried this, to be told that they we all ill, the 5 big names.......the organiser was closed on a saturday, conveniently...so i was unable to contact them for more info...

it was at this stage I notice that the local council had a hand in running this event..and previously this is what they did:-

more than once or twice, advertised big names to appear at very small events, indoor and out, who never turned up. I queried one such artist, contacted his manager, to be told they had never had an arrangement to perform, (it was not on his website which is why I asked, as given the small venue I was doubtful). The council had done it to sell more tickets. The manager of said artist asked me to scan details which I did, he was angry, with the council and said it gave said artist a bad name to falsely advertise him as appearing. He spoke to the council. 2 weeks later council published a 2 page spread advertising the artist as appearing...I contacted the artist and was asked to scan article and they were furious...they thanked me and sent me copies of the artists CD's to thank me for bringing it to their attention. Nothing was ever mentioned in the local press, suprisingly.

So back to original question...the organisers did not inform ticket buyers that the line up had changed dramatically, they were conveniently closed when the event started so couldn't be contacted, we didnt even get to know until we'd handed over our tickets, just one big name appeared right at the end, during which they were bottled,beer sprayed allover them and urine,and various missiles the band were hit as were the crowd as were my friend and I. This is not the organisers fault, I realise, the security were nowhere to be seen, and worse toddlers in pushchairs were present so it was dangerous...obviously we 'enjoyed'(!?) one big name bands performance, but isnt £31 per ticket expensive to watch local students play 'rock' music? and just one named band? I would accept a partial refund, would it be easier to reclaim as I did it with credit card? surely on the part of the organiser its was misrepresentation to advertise big names who were not appearing? Anybody been in a similar situation?

NB I went on holiday (with a cut head) the day after this and just got back today, and I want to be prepared for when i speak to them on monday. (the organisers - sellers of the tickets) to get a refund.

hr100

I would start of by writing a letter of complaint to them, explain how disappointed you are, that you could understand one band not being there on the day but it was unacceptable for all 5 big names etc.

See what they say, try and not be too hard on the first letter, its easier to get tougher than to have no where to go after first letter.

maninthestreet

5 different acts all ill? Sounds a bit fishy to me - can you name the acts??

DrScotsman

I would accept a partial refund, would it be easier to reclaim as I did it with credit card?

I'm not sure what you mean by this exactly.
If you mean easier to claim from the people you paid, it'd be exactly the same as any other payment method so long as you had proof of purchase (e.g. the tickets, reciept).
If you mean claim from the credit card company, you are unable to claim under Section 75 as the purchase was under £100. If your card was a VISA card then you can try to claim from your bank under the "VISA Chargeback" scheme, which is what you should try if they play hardball when you complain to them.

In any case, best of luck getting your money back - assuming you can prove they're lying (which judging by your blue text it seems you're clearly capable of doing) you deserve all your money back IMO.

hamaradam

maninthestreet wrote: »

5 different acts all ill? Sounds a bit fishy to me - can you name the acts??

I could! but it would identify the promoter and the bands, which would maybe not be a good idea at this stage.... top names though.....and I had no reason to not believe they would appear.