NEC event, not as described rip off

2stixoftwix

Yesterday we went to a youtubers show at the NEC called helloworld live
It was advertised that lots of events were going to happen whilst there and some people were going to be able to meet up with there favourite stars and get autographs and photos.
There was a show at the end that was advertised as all the headlining stars would take part, starting with a fashion show

When we got there it took ages to get in, there were thousands of people crammed into a small space.
Some of the events never happened and the autographs and photos wearn't allowed to go ahead.
Massive queues, some people waiting hours to see a certain star, who left half way through so people were queuing for someone who wasn't even there.
Food was massively overpriced
Sweets were £2.20 for 100g

The show finished early , no fashion show and half the stars didn't even get up on stage. In fact I don't think some even turned up.

The show was primarily advertised at young girls as it contained the 'biggest youtube' stars in the country who's only talent seems to be able to make videos.

The tickets cost £119 for 2 merchandise transactions had a £1.50 surcharge.
It was a total rip off with lots of complaints via twitter etc.

Does anyone have any advice re refunds, how to claim and what our legal position is

Thanks

bris

It's subjective, you say bad others say great. You do know what Youtube is don't you? making videos is the talent and the whole point of Youtube.


Overpriced food? Is this the first time you have been to any kind of event? of course it's over priced, the vendors pay a fortune to sell there.


The chances of a refund are nill. Unless you can prove breach of contract, but that wont happen as the event went ahead.


This leaves loss on enjoyment if you can prove it didn't do as advertised but this is very hard to prove, it still wouldn't get you a full refund as there was stuff there to do so anything you can claim for would be partial at best.

paddyrg

Gosh, it'll be a tough one. NEC is almost certainly just the venue and you need to find the promoter, then hassle long and loud. It'll be arguable if there's an automatic right to refund but you might get an ODFO payment to shut you up if you kick up enough of a stink.

2stixoftwix

There are masses of bad reviews and upset people.
It was the show itself had no content and totally not as described.

The twitter backlash is huge and I think the sun is investigating

SouthUKMan

Unless the promoter wishes to acknowledge your complaint, then I suspect you will only see justice done through the courts. To succeed, I would suggest that you need to bring a class action against the promoter. This is where a number of complainants with the same poor experience unite.

There are two ways you can achieve this. 1) Alert trading standards to what happened. If trading standards receive enough complaints then they are likely to investigate and to possibly bring a case to court. 2) You could instigate a class action yourself by representing a group of complainants. Both options require a reasonable number of complainants to increase the likelihood of success. You could use social media to gauge interest from others who were also left disappointed and wanting recompense. Just bear in mind though that a lot of people are willing to shout 'jump' but in the end few do.

It reminds me of this case: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-12783389

Parents left disappointed after paying money for an event that was advertised as the best thing ever when in reality it was poorly organised and a huge disappointment. Class action succeeded.

The other option - although I hate to write this as it goes against my inbuilt sense of justice! - is to quickly write it off to a bad experience and to move on with your life. You need to balance the want for justice and compensation against the reality check that it could potentially take you many, many hours of work and stress to claw back your money.

2stixoftwix

Thanks I remember the Lapland trial.

The reviews are terrible
https://www.facebook.com/pg/helloworldlive/reviews/
And the sun and telegraph have both picked up on the story.

I think we may have a fight on our hands

Oakdene

Telegraph wrote:

In a statement, the organisers said requests for refunds would be dealt with “on an individual basis”.
A spokesman said: "We at HelloWorld want to let you know that we are really disappointed and very sorry to hear that some fans feel they did not get the experience they were hoping for. It is the fans that help make these shows so great and we always want to ensure that everyone has an amazing time. We really appreciate everyone’s feedback and we are taking everything on board.
"The Hello World event is designed as a new way for fans to see their favourite content creators on stage and a change from the old ‘meet and greet’ style events. The atmosphere at the event was very positive overall and we had venue and event staff on hand to deal in real time with any teething issues on a case-by-case basis.
"Anyone who has been in touch with our official email address is being responded to on an individual basis and we appreciate fans patience during this process."

Taken from the article http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/10/30/hello-world-live-organisers-youtubers-convention-apologise-disappointed/

ThumbRemote

SouthUKMan wrote: »

Unless the promoter wishes to acknowledge your complaint, then I suspect you will only see justice done through the courts. To succeed, I would suggest that you need to bring a class action against the promoter. This is where a number of complainants with the same poor experience unite.

There are two ways you can achieve this. 1) Alert trading standards to what happened. If trading standards receive enough complaints then they are likely to investigate and to possibly bring a case to court. 2) You could instigate a class action yourself by representing a group of complainants. Both options require a reasonable number of complainants to increase the likelihood of success. You could use social media to gauge interest from others who were also left disappointed and wanting recompense. Just bear in mind though that a lot of people are willing to shout 'jump' but in the end few do.

It reminds me of this case: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-12783389

Parents left disappointed after paying money for an event that was advertised as the best thing ever when in reality it was poorly organised and a huge disappointment. Class action succeeded.

The other option - although I hate to write this as it goes against my inbuilt sense of justice! - is to quickly write it off to a bad experience and to move on with your life. You need to balance the want for justice and compensation against the reality check that it could potentially take you many, many hours of work and stress to claw back your money.

Class Action is an American term, and has no direct parallel in UK law. If the OP wants to take legal action, they would be best concentrating on doing it for themselves only.