Festival cancelled - PayPal/credit card probs

ericonabike

I bought tickets for a weekend festival costing £170. This has now been cancelled because of waterlogged ground. I paid for the tickets on my credit card via PayPal. I have a very strong suspicion the festival organiser is not going to issue refunds [they are not registered with STAR, the relevant trade body]. And so my only chance of a refund may be through PayPal/my credit card company.

PayPal's refund policy covers tangible goods, not services such as festivals. As I understand it, credit card refunds only apply where there is a direct contract between the company and the supplier - ie not where the payment is made through a third party such as PayPal. And so my fear is that unless the organiser does the decent thing I am going to lose my money!

Any similar experiences or advice welcomed.

Gromitt

I agree with you about your credit card company are no longer liable, as Paypal provided the service with your CC company.

However, paying for something that happens in the future would a transaction risk (the event may not actually occur), so Paypal may be able to help.

Indeed, Paypal define a transaction risk as:

"“Transaction Risk” means the risk of PayPal’s position being adversely affected with respect to any liability of yours to PayPal or any third party relating to any Commercial Transaction payment (including, without limitation, (i) the risk relating to any Dispute, Claim, Chargeback, Reversal, fees, fines or penalties, (ii) the risk of a seller not performing a contract with its buyers, (iii) a risk that arises if you sell an item that you do not immediately deliver upon receipt of payment and (iv) the risk of any other liability being incurred by PayPal (or any third party) related to the payment in question), in each case whether actual, anticipated by PayPal or believed by PayPal to exist. Transaction Risk includes, without limitation, (a) in the case of event or concert ticket sales, the risk that exists until the event or concert has taken place and, (b) in the case of transactions relating to travel, the risk that exists until the travel-related goods and services have been provided. You may be notified from time to time about other specific circumstances where Transaction Risk arises (or is deemed to have arisen) for the purpose of this Agreement."

m0ns00n

My wife bought concert tickets on eBay sometime last year, but didn't receive them (seller had some sob story, can't remember exactly what).

eBay and PayPal both refused to do anything about it, as the transaction took place more than 3 months ago (great customer services there...)

I then decided to try my credit card company (Capital One), who immediately started the appropriate proceedings. It didn't seem to matter to them the transaciton was via PayPal.

All I had to do was send off some proof I'd tried contacting the seller, which I did. Within a week or so Cap1 had refunded the money to my account!

Funnily enough, I soon received an email from PayPal regarding the chargeback from Cap1. It asked me if I meant to do this, and that I could click a button to reverse the chargeback if I wanted! Serves them right for hiding behind a 3-month policy...

Shah79

Is there anything stipulated in the terms about 'acts of God' etc. Like what you see on insurance documents?

If you're paying £170 it must be a fairly respectable festival and therefore I would expect it would issue at least a part refund.

Gordon_Hose

You can't assume anything until they don't return your money.

thenudeone

ericonabike wrote: »

I bought tickets for a weekend festival costing £170. This has now been cancelled because of waterlogged ground. I paid for the tickets on my credit card via PayPal.

If a payment is made by logging into your Paypal account, then I can see why CC companies will try to wriggle out of it, because paypal is an intermediary.

However, if you didn't log in to a Paypal account, then the retailer is using Paypal like any other Merchant account (eg: Barclays PDQ) and you should have the same protection as if you used a standard merchant, IMO.

YoYoY

ericonabike wrote: »

I bought tickets for a weekend festival costing £170. This has now been cancelled because of waterlogged ground. I paid for the tickets on my credit card via PayPal. I have a very strong suspicion the festival organiser is not going to issue refunds [they are not registered with STAR, the relevant trade body]. And so my only chance of a refund may be through PayPal/my credit card company.

PayPal's refund policy covers tangible goods, not services such as festivals. As I understand it, credit card refunds only apply where there is a direct contract between the company and the supplier - ie not where the payment is made through a third party such as PayPal. And so my fear is that unless the organiser does the decent thing I am going to lose my money!

Any similar experiences or advice welcomed.

LBA and then start your claim here if you think you are entitled to a refund (and that the organiser isn't going to issue one willingly)

http://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk

ericonabike

Thanks folks - sounds some more promising than I had assumed! I may be totally wrong, but I just have a bad feeling about the organiser's intentions here. I can't now check the T and C from the web site, since all the information was removed, and replaced with a single page notifying us of the cancellation. Which in itself seems suspect.

The web page now contains the following info on refunds:

"After lengthy discussions today, we have the following update regarding refunds.
If you purchased your tickets through our web site using a credit card, it may be best to request a refund from the credit card company direct.
We have been advised that on most occasions they will provide a refund to you under their Credit Indemnity Insurance.
Anyone who purchased a ticket through our web site, using a debit card, within the last 45 days, should log in to their account and request a refund. We are actioning these straight away, but PayPal advise us that it typically takes between 5 to 7 days for the refund to show in your account.
If you purchased within 45 days using a guest account, please email this information to us and PayPal have assured us that when we issue a refund it will go back onto your debit card.
Anyone who purchased a ticket longer than 45 days will be refunded once PayPal release the funds, which they currently hold on reserve in our account, they will start to release these funds from Monday 23rd July."

I have lodged a dispute with PayPal, which they have escalated to a claim, in the hope that I can get my money back through that route. I'll report back on developments as it may help others.

jonesMUFCforever

ericonabike wrote: »

Thanks folks - sounds some more promising than I had assumed! I may be totally wrong, but I just have a bad feeling about the organiser's intentions here. I can't now check the T and C from the web site, since all the information was removed, and replaced with a single page notifying us of the cancellation. Which in itself seems suspect.

The web page now contains the following info on refunds:

"After lengthy discussions today, we have the following update regarding refunds.
If you purchased your tickets through our web site using a credit card, it may be best to request a refund from the credit card company direct.
We have been advised that on most occasions they will provide a refund to you under their Credit Indemnity Insurance.
Anyone who purchased a ticket through our web site, using a debit card, within the last 45 days, should log in to their account and request a refund. We are actioning these straight away, but PayPal advise us that it typically takes between 5 to 7 days for the refund to show in your account.
If you purchased within 45 days using a guest account, please email this information to us and PayPal have assured us that when we issue a refund it will go back onto your debit card.
Anyone who purchased a ticket longer than 45 days will be refunded once PayPal release the funds, which they currently hold on reserve in our account, they will start to release these funds from Monday 23rd July."

I have lodged a dispute with PayPal, which they have escalated to a claim, in the hope that I can get my money back through that route. I'll report back on developments as it may help others.

''Credit Indemnity insurance'' - they are having you on!
Might be worth having a word with the police if you don't get your refund.

kinmel

If you need to serve any legal documents here are the whois registration details for MiFest

Domain name:
mifest.co.uk

Registrant:
fiona Mcclements

Registrant type:
UK Individual

Registrant's address:
Dunham house
Chester Road
Dunham On The Hill
Frodsham
WA6 0NQ
United Kingdom


She has registered the site as belonging to an individual and not to a company. Deception, me thinks.

[Deleted User]

kinmel wrote: »

If you need to serve any legal documents here are the whois registration details for MiFest

Who said it was MiFest?