Festival cancelled... no refund.

Hoenir

Bookitbee.com appear to be little more than a facilitator for small event organisers to self promote through. Trading Standards are who you should have reported this too. 

DullGreyGuy

SiliconChip said:

If it was really paid by Direct Debit then you can employ the DD Gaurantee to have the money returned to you. Whether you'd then still owe the money either to the festival organiser or the third party depends on what your contract says, but at least you'll be in a better position than you are now.

@siliconchip the DD guarantee doesn't work like that... it protects you from payments you didnt authorise or if the amount is changes without you being told etc. It's not the same as chargeback and giving you protection if a company fails etc. 

born_again

SiliconChip said:

If it was really paid by Direct Debit then you can employ the DD Gaurantee to have the money returned to you. Whether you'd then still owe the money either to the festival organiser or the third party depends on what your contract says, but at least you'll be in a better position than you are now.

DD does not cover this.

The Guarantee

• The Guarantee is offered by all banks and building societies that accept instructions to pay Direct Debits

• If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your Direct Debit the organisation will notify you (normally 10 working days) in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed. If you request the organisation to collect a payment, confirmation of the amount and date will be given to you at the time of the request

• If an error is made in the payment of your Direct Debit, by the organisation or your bank or building society, you are entitled to a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from your bank or building society

• • If you receive a refund you are not entitled to, you must pay it back when the organisation asks you to

• You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by simply contacting your bank or building society. Written confirmation may be required. Please also notify the organisation.

If enough that booked could get together, given the previous comment of fraud & get enough evidence that it was never going to go ahead, then police might be interested. But even that is not going to get money back.

RefluentBeans

Sorry to hear about this OP. It seems like there may be some sketchy actions going on. 

If the even gets postponed, cancelled, or moved you should be entitled to a refund of the tickets face value.

The issue is going to be that large companies know this (and although try to prevent it by offering extras etc) will generally follow the law. Small companies and individuals often do not know the law as well as they should know. 

I think the next step is to formally ask for a refund. Explain that you’re exercising your statutory rights and you would like a refund. If they refuse, potentially look at going to the payment processor. It’s not uncommon for these payment processors to hold onto some of the money for a while in case they need to issue a refund/chargeback/something similar. 

There’s some good advice here: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/event-tickets/getting-a-refund-on-an-event-ticket/#:~:text=If%20you%20bought%20your%20ticket,how%20to%20get%20a%20refund. 

Finally, I assume the contract is between a limited company rather than a sole trader (ie Festivals Ltd not Alice Smith) so if you went to issue a small claims court (the final legal remedy) it may be fairly easy for her to asset move from one company to another company, and shut up shop of the company you were dealing with. This (I assume) is fraudulent but it would be the police that would investigate and financial crimes can take a while to be investigated. And I’m not sure how this would work. 

Hopefully complaining will help and get the response you want. If not, I think it may well be an uphill battle. Good luck, and please keep us updated. 

eskbanker

alisonn said:

I have now paid over £300 for 2 tickets.

alisonn said:

BoGoF said:

So all this was advertised/paid for through FB? Any links?

Honestly, do you think there is going to be any festival?

It was advertised on Facebook but not anything to do with them fir payments etc

Presumably a festival charging over £150 per ticket will be advertising more widely than simply via a single social media channel - what's the event and who's the organiser?

ThumbRemote

alisonn said:

Mark_d said:

I don't think she can legally say "no refunds if postponed".  Otherwise she could postpone indefinitely and keep your money.

She is no longer offering what your purchased (ie. festival in June) so I would be fighting for a full refund

Alderbank said:

alisonn said:

 They have continued taking payments through direct debit through a 3rd party. I have now paid over £300 for 2 tickets...We contacted the finance company who said to contact her.

Who is the third party, who is the finance company and exactly how have you paid so far?

The 3rd Party company is called Bookstore.com who took payments by direct debit

Are you sure you don't mean Debit Card? The bookitbee site seems to take card payments, not direct debits. 

The two are very different, and you have far better options with debit card. 

outtatune

I suspect that there was never ever going to be a festival. Have you checked with the management companies of any of the acts she claims to have booked to see if they even know of her existence?

WillPS

outtatune said:

I suspect that there was never ever going to be a festival. Have you checked with the management companies of any of the acts she claims to have booked to see if they even know of her existence?

Not sure I see why that's necessary.

WillPS

ThumbRemote said:

alisonn said:

Mark_d said:

I don't think she can legally say "no refunds if postponed".  Otherwise she could postpone indefinitely and keep your money.

She is no longer offering what your purchased (ie. festival in June) so I would be fighting for a full refund

Alderbank said:

alisonn said:

 They have continued taking payments through direct debit through a 3rd party. I have now paid over £300 for 2 tickets...We contacted the finance company who said to contact her.

Who is the third party, who is the finance company and exactly how have you paid so far?

The 3rd Party company is called Bookstore.com who took payments by direct debit

Are you sure you don't mean Debit Card? The bookitbee site seems to take card payments, not direct debits. 

The two are very different, and you have far better options with debit card. 

Agreed. I think this is a Continuous Payment Authority via Credit/Debit Card, not a Direct Debit. OP, if this is the case, contact your card issuer straight away and ask for a chargeback for all the payments you've made. You might have to open one 'claim' per payment.

outtatune

WillPS said:

outtatune said:

I suspect that there was never ever going to be a festival. Have you checked with the management companies of any of the acts she claims to have booked to see if they even know of her existence?

Not sure I see why that's necessary.

Who said it was necessary?