What are my rights if a London show cancels, but only offers a change of date?

[Deleted User]

I had booked tickets to The War of the Worlds Layered Reality show in London for 11th May. My husband and I have been before and loved it so much, we booked it again, and also Layered Reality's new show Gunpowder Plot for 12th May. We would get the train to London, stay in a hotel overnight on 11th May, and go to both shows, one on 11th May and the other on 12th May.
On 11th March, Layered Reality sent me an email stating that War of the Worlds were cancelled on Wednesdays, so we could rebook out tickets for another date. There was no option for a refund. Luckily we managed to get show time on 13th May, so at least the two shows were again on consecutive days. We also managed to change our hotel booking from the night of 11th May to the night of 12th May.
I have just received another email from Layered Reality stating that the Gunpowder Plot on 12th May has now been cancelled. We cannot book another slot before 22nd May. There has been no option for a refund. I have emailed them (there is no phone number) to state my displeasure. I have not rebooked another slot for the Gunpowder Plot as this means two trips to London etc. We wanted both the shows on consecutive days.
On the Layered Reality website, the cancellation policy only works if the customer cancels. Their policy is that you can cancel for a full refund within 48 hours of booking the show, otherwise, you need to pay a £5 fee to move your show time/date if you cannot make your original date. There is nothing on their website about their policy if they cancel (which they now have twice). What are my rights here please?

TELLIT01

If you are sure there is nothing on the website to say 'No refunds under any circumstances' I don't see how they can do that.  If they won't play ball, contact your card provider and take it from there.

Manxman_in_exile

Are you 100% certain that there is nothing in their T&C's about cancelling other than you cancelling?

I'd have thought that if there's nothing in their T&Cs about them being able to cancel, or that there are "no refunds", then they are in breach and you should be entitled to a full refund.

See what others say

[Edit:  If they are only offering vouchers or a credit of some kind, I don't think you are bound to accept them if you are entitled to a refund - which I'd have thought you are]

sheramber

Have they said why it has been cancelled?

What is your refund policy?

Once purchased, you can cancel your tickets for a full refund within 48 hours. After this time, tickets are non-refundable. In the event that the experience is temporarily closed due to force majeure, guests will be offered a gift voucher of the same value, to visit the experience upon re-opening.

See all FAQs

Manxman_in_exile

sheramber said:

Have they said why it has been cancelled?

What is your refund policy?

Once purchased, you can cancel your tickets for a full refund within 48 hours. After this time, tickets are non-refundable. In the event that the experience is temporarily closed due to force majeure, guests will be offered a gift voucher of the same value, to visit the experience upon re-opening.

See all FAQs

If that's what applies here, surely the contract is frustrated and the OP is entitled to a full refund - not a voucher.

@[Deleted User] -  have they told you the reasons for the cancellation at all?

[Deleted User]

Manxman_in_exile said:

sheramber said:

Have they said why it has been cancelled?

What is your refund policy?

Once purchased, you can cancel your tickets for a full refund within 48 hours. After this time, tickets are non-refundable. In the event that the experience is temporarily closed due to force majeure, guests will be offered a gift voucher of the same value, to visit the experience upon re-opening.

See all FAQs

If that's what applies here, surely the contract is frustrated and the OP is entitled to a full refund - not a voucher.

@[Deleted User] -  have they told you the reasons for the cancellation at all?

THE MESSAGE IN MY EMAIL IS:

There has been a change to our performance schedule, which unfortunately has affected your booking and we have therefore had to cancel the performance you had booked.

THE T&CS STATE:

• In the event of any disruption or cancellation to the experience, guests will be offered a gift voucher of the same value to visit the experience again at a later date.

Does this mean that the Consumer Rights Act 2015 no longer is legally binding? Also I paid £40 offpeak, if there are no more tickets left at that price, I would have to pay more money.

Manxman_in_exile

My own view is that if they cancel the show because of a "change to their performance schedule" then their contract with you is either breached by them or is frustrated and - yes - you should be entitled to a full refund if you don't want a voucher.  If they don't like this they should have insurance against it.

But I don't particularly like questions about cancelled bookings etc, so I suggest you wait and see what others have to say.

Olinda99

This might help (note - for me, cancelled means the event is not going ahead on the night you booked for):

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-10329247/How-refund-concert-event-cancelled-Covid.html

'If the venue cancels and you bought your tickets directly from the event organiser or primary ticket retailers, you'll benefit from some consumer protections and should be able to claim a refund for the ticket's face-value price. 

'However, you'll have fewer protections if you purchased tickets from a secondary ticket seller, such as Viagogo or StubHub, and will need to check the seller's terms and conditions to see what you're entitled to.' 

Also:

https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/consumer/shopping/tickets_events.html

If the event is cancelled

When you buy a ticket, you and the seller are entering into a contract. The terms and conditions should include information about refunds if the event is cancelled or there is a significant change (for example, a change of date or venue).

This means that if an event is cancelled, it is up the seller to resolve the issue. This may be by rescheduling the event, or if that is not possible or is not suitable for you, by giving you a refund.

[Deleted User]

Thank you for all your comments. I did contact the retailer and quoted Consumer Rights Act 2015. They got back to me quickly and offered either a refund for both shows, or both shows to be moved to a date of my choice. I chose the latter as I do want to go to the shows. It just goes to show, if you know and quote your rights, you will often get what is right and proper.

The_Unready

Just a footnote - I had a similar experience with a Jack Dee show that I'd booked for 9th April in Torquay through Ticketmaster.

Jack apparently contracted COVID and Ticketmaster e-mailed me the day before the show to say that it had been rescheduled. Ticketmaster were keen to say that my tickets were valid for the new date, but there was no mention whatsoever of a refund process.

I couldn't make the new date, so I had to trawl through the Ticketmaster site for an inordinately long time trying to find the refund request link - Ticketmaster seemed to have made it as difficult as possible to find.

In the end the refund request was processed promptly (once I'd found the link), but I can't help thinking that these ticket selling companies hope you'll give up trying to find out how to get refunded!

Of course, the £200 I'd splashed out for the hotel couldn't be claimed (one day's notice meant I was too late to cancel) so we had a nice weekend in Torquay anyway 😀!

And I've decided to forgive Jack for the inconvenience and rebooked for the show in Bristol in September!