Festival cancelled, organiser and ticket agent denying responsibility for refund

hutchipoos

Hi all,

Quite a few months ago, I bought tickets to a music festival organsied by All Tomorrows Parties. To buy tickets, you were forced to use an external ticketing agent called Dash Tickets. This was due to take place this weekend, on Friday and Saturday, and yesterday afternoon, it was cancelled. ATP are saying that refunds are to be sought from point of sale. Dash Tickets are denying that it is there responsibility.

Both companies are based in Australia, but ATP supposedly put on gigs across the world.

Is there any comeback on this? Can't remember if I paid via PayPal or by card.

Is there any point complaining to Trading Standards here?

Thanks

tykesi

Have you checked the terms and conditions that you agreed to when you bought the tickets from Dash? Surely they will tell you who is responsible in the event of cancellation?

hutchipoos

Dash's T and Cs state that the presenter, in this case ATP, hold responsibility for refunds. However, ATP are stating that it is the point of sale that is responsibile, so we have a stalemate.

Also, just discovered that Dash only deals with ATP events, so it's probably all the same people.

I paid via PayPal, don't know if they'll be able to do anything.

TBagpuss

Normally the person who sells to you is responsible, However, if they explicitly said they were agents for the organiser then the organisers may be responsible but it would be reasonable to expect the agents to assist in providing details about how the tickets are to be refunded.

You can raise it with PayApl - I doubt they will be able to help you due to the time delay but if enough people complain they may be able to prevent repeat problems.

It may be worth contacting Australian Trading standards.

i would also write directly to the organisers, set out that the ticketing agents stated that they acted as agents to the event and that all refunds must come from the event, and state that as the organiser obviously chose to use that ticketing site they must have been aware of and approved the terms and conditions and therefore you expect them to keep to them and to provide you with a full refund.
unfortuantely if they won;t then you may be stuffed.

ljonski

Why was it cancelled and have you been in contact with anyone in the same boat?

keyser666

Did you have insurance?

hutchipoos

ljonski - From things I'm following on Facebook, there's thousand of people that are caught between Dash and ATP. The excuse amoungst other things for the cancellation was poor ticket sales.

keyser666 - What sort of insurance? Amount lost was £77, so would probably be eaten up by excesses anyway.


I've raised a claim with PayPal, but they have to wait for word from ATP, and technically PayPal don't have any obligation here, but are at least trying to be helpul in raising claims.

ljonski

i see things are hotting up on facebook!

keyser666

This part of their statement would concern me in buying any further tickets from them for other festivals

In the past ATP has weathered losses such as this and gone on with the show, taking huge direct financial blows as an independent company. But on this occasion, with an event of this scale and the high production costs that come with it - if we had gone ahead; it would have 100% been the end of ATP. We do not take this decision lightly and it was the hardest we've ever had to make.

keyser666

SUBJECT TO LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

We are terribly disappointed to hear the news today that ATP has cancelled the Jabberwocky event scheduled for this weekend.

Our entire team has poured immense effort into helping ATP with their ticketing programme over the past several months, investing considerable time, money and energy, all in good faith. Our trust in ATP seems to have been misplaced, as their emails to fans and customers today concerning refunds have become deliberately misleading. It is for this reason that we feel compelled to make it clear that Dash has given to ATP all funds that Dash received for ticket sales to Jabberwocky. In addition to giving ATP all the ticketing funds, Dash has made substantial advances to ATP which remain unpaid, as do considerable fees for the work we have undertaken on their behalf.

It is important that everyone knows that Dash Tickets is in no way responsible for ATPs financial problems, nor with their conduct post cancellation. We are very keen to learn where the money has gone!

We thought more of ATP and its Directors. We hope that they will do the right thing and expedite refunds to all fans.

Dash will now take legal advice with the aim of commencing legal proceedings against ATP (Willwal Limited), to attempt to recover all funds.

As music lovers and event fans ourselves, we share in the frustration around this cancellation and we will do its utmost to help as many of you as possible.

Sincerely Dash Tickets.

keyser666

n a statement this afternoon (Aug 13), the organisers of Jabberwocky - All Tomorrow's Parties, have responded to the Dash Tickets statement and concerns of fans:

"Following the announcement yesterday that ATP sadly had no other option than to cancel this weekend's previously scheduled Jabberwocky Festival - we are currently experiencing a very high volume of email to our feedback@atpfestival.com account. Our entire staff are working their hardest to get back to everyone's questions as quickly as possible though, and aim to respond to each new message in between 24-48 hours. Many thanks for your patience on this matter.

"To confirm, even though some outlets may take longer than others; it is ATP's only goal to ensure that all customers receive their due refund. For the vast majority of people, Dash Tickets will be their point of purchase. It is their responsibility to refund the customer, as they were the company that took payments; not ATP. And if Dash are not being helpful facilitating this matter, your next point of contact should be directly with your bank or card provider to order a chargeback of your purchase amount.

"If you happened to book through one of our alternate ticket agents, and have further questions, please feel free to contact us at the email address above.

"To our customers - we are crushed that this weekend is unable to go ahead, and exhausted every option and resource attempting to avoid this absolute last-resort situation up to the moment yesterday's statement was made. Our deepest apologies for the inconvenience this cancellation has caused you all."