Tickets and distance selling act.

David_Harrison007

Hi Everyone, I bought tickets for myself and a mate to the Keswick beer festival and  he has had to pull out, apparently a birth is more important .  
When I purchased the tickets it stated there would be no refunds for purchased tickets.  
Is that allowed?  Does the distance selling act apply?

Cheers
Harry

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Hello OP

The supply of accommodation, transport of goods, vehicle rental services, catering or services related to leisure activities, if the contract provides for a specific date or period of performance are excluded from the right to cancel so for this kind of event the "cooling off" period doesn't apply. 

born_again

No, as your mate has had to pull out. It is a change of mind.

All you can do is sell to someone else. You have no recourse against festival or who you used to pay.

But there are some contracts you can’t cancel simply because you change your mind, including:

• contracts for transport and some leisure services to be provided on a specific date, eg hotel bookings, flights, car hire, concert and other event tickets

David_Harrison007

Nice one, cheers everyone.

Undervalued

David_Harrison007 said:

Hi Everyone, I bought tickets for myself and a mate to the Keswick beer festival and  he has had to pull out, apparently a birth is more important .  
When I purchased the tickets it stated there would be no refunds for purchased tickets.  
Is that allowed?  Does the distance selling act apply?

Cheers
Harry

It is, for the reasons that have been explained above.

If you think about it, if you had a legal right to cancel such bookings then booking would be pointless. People could book for half a dozen popular events that might fancy attending, decide at the last minute which (if any) to go to and cancel the others! No hotel, concert or airline could operate like that.

Some events might choose to offer certain change or cancellation options, maybe at a higher price. If they do they must of course honour those contractual terms but that is all.

eskbanker

Undervalued said:

David_Harrison007 said:

Hi Everyone, I bought tickets for myself and a mate to the Keswick beer festival and  he has had to pull out, apparently a birth is more important .  
When I purchased the tickets it stated there would be no refunds for purchased tickets.  
Is that allowed?  Does the distance selling act apply?

Cheers
Harry

It is, for the reasons that have been explained above.

If you think about it, if you had a legal right to cancel such bookings then booking would be pointless. People could book for half a dozen popular events that might fancy attending, decide at the last minute which (if any) to go to and cancel the others! No hotel, concert or airline could operate like that.

Some events might choose to offer certain change or cancellation options, maybe at a higher price. If they do they must of course honour those contractual terms but that is all.

OP didn't specify when the booking was made but even if cancellation rights applied, this would generally be within a cooling-off period of no more than 14 days from purchase, so that would be the benchmark, i.e. nobody is expecting to be able to cancel at the last minute.