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So booked Grillstock tickets months ago, then last month they emailed to say it was postponed and anyone who had purchased a ticket could get a refund within 10 days.
So, emailed to ask for a refund, usual email back saying 'high number of enquiries we'll deal with your query soon'. two weeks later no reply, messaged on facebook etc. Nothing back.
The tickets were purchased via ticketfairy, but I think they are as annoyed with Grillstock as customers are, as they have sent out a rather long email saying that all the money is will Grillstock, so they are the ones who need to complete the refund but they themselves have not even heard from Grillstock.
Grillstock are just not replying to any emails or contact.
What could I do next? they have nearly £70 of my money and would really like it back.
Pay with Credit Card?
Otherwise I can see this being a long, drawn out faf.
Paid with my debit card unfortunately.
A quick Google tells me a) you're not alone b) they've not paid suppliers for previous events held last year.
I don't think you're going to see your £70 again sorry. I'd bet they spend a lot of money trying to hold a festival, not enough people would pay to go to a Giant BBQ cum Music Festival and it's not going to happen, rather than cancelling, they're trying to postpone hoping enough people will shrug it off or hope it'll go ahead in 2019 and not ask for refunds.
Who is your contract with?
I'd be chasing Ticketfairy as they're the ones you paid. Their cut is included in your £70 presumably, so if you were to get a refund from the festival it would be minus Ticketfairy's cut.
Small claims, Twitter hounding... idk.
Credit card is really the one to use here.
as they have sent out a rather long email saying that all the money is will Grillstock, so they are the ones who need to complete the refund
Irrelevant, that's their problem. You contract is with Ticketfairy (who?!), they're the ones liable to be refunding you.
not enough people would pay to go to a Giant BBQ cum Music Festival
I prefer sausages.
You aren't the only one:
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/grillstock-still-hasnt-refunded-tickets-1792214
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/full-what-ticket-fairy-said-1792509
If the event is cancelled or postponed then they should refund the money under their terms and conditions.
the fact they gave it to someone else already is their issue....
https://www.theticketfairy.com/refunds/
There are no refunds, credits or exchanges on all tickets unless the event has been cancelled or postponed as per our terms and conditions.
The only exception to this is if an event has chosen to use our resale system. If this is the case, an option will become available to you in the 'My Account' section once it has been activated for that event.
How do I obtain a refund on a cancelled or postponed event?
The Ticket Fairy will call or email you with details of each cancelled or postponed event as sometimes there may be other options rather than a refund.
Generally, we will automatically issue a refund back to the credit card used for purchase. If this is the case we will email you a confirmation that your refund has been processed to the email address provided when you booked. It usually takes around 3 business days for the funds to return to your account.
not enough people would pay to go to a Giant BBQ cum Music Festival
I prefer sausages.
I guess he likes juicey ones.
The Grillstock founding directors (info on Company check) left last year then the company had problems which ment they went into administration. Not long after the Grillstock fest was cancelled as they claimed there wasn't enough time to organise it. As for ticketfairy there is a full statement in the Bristol Post stating thier position.
There are lots of posts on Grillstocks Facebook site about this issue but nothing from them for a few weeks.
Good look getting your money back
Just contacted Santander. Really helpful, they have raised a dispute, just need me to provide emails I've sent to Grillstock etc.
Fingers crossed! I'd want the money back to go to the Bristol beer fest instead.
Festivals do seem to be the new scam!
Good luck with the chargeback. The registered address for Grillstock is now c/o an insolvency company, so I guess the chances of getting any money back directly from them is zero. They will have left a load of people high and dry.
Is the chargeback aimed at Ticketfairy or Grillstock?
Is the chargeback aimed at Ticketfairy or Grillstock?
It should be Ticket Fairy, i.e. who took the money from the OPs account in the transaction that's being charged back.
Ticket Fairy surely are the money contract link, no matter whether they pass to the funds to Grillstock or not. The contract is for a service between the OP and the Service for money collection (ticket fairy)
If ticket fairy have passed the moneys (minus commission) to Grillstock then its ticket fairy who should be claiming from Grillstock not the OP.
Unlikely the credit provider will refund IMO.
Festivals do seem to be the new scam!
Being a festival organiser sounds like a recipe for a stomach ulcer and many sleepless nights. Big outlay and non recoverable costs months in advance and making a profit being dependent on factors outside your control like weather. I would imagine you only break even pretty late in the day once your cut from vendors' taking etc come in. Then dealers get in selling dodgy gear and people die like at the festival in Portsmouth earlier in the year and you have to cancel and rebrand. Sounds like a like a lot of graft and a lot of risk as a way to make a living.
Unlikely the credit provider will refund IMO
Why? I think the OP will get their money back. I don't see any evidence that Ticket Fairy are in financial difficulty. They look to be a multi-national organisation. Ticket Fairy getting money from Grillstock is unlikely but isn't the OPs concern
It’s difficult to understand Ticket Fairy’s role/responsibility in this. They claim to just have provided the ticketing mechanism rather than full agent services. I suppose the clearest indication will be who it says the payment went to on your statement.
From the ticket fairy response linked earlier they seemed to imply that the payment was enabled by them but made directly to Grillstock. Or at least this is how I read it.
i guess they get paid a separate fee but as they don’t receive the money and pass it on it gets them away from some liability. Or at least they feel that they can wash their hands of the matter...
It’s difficult to understand Ticket Fairy’s role/responsibility in this. They claim to just have provided the ticketing mechanism rather than full agent services. I suppose the clearest indication will be who it says the payment went to on your statement.
Agreed, I think the OPs chances of seeing their money again will be entirely down to the culpability of Ticket Fairy and I'd bet my balls to a barn-dance their Ts and Cs expressly protect them from this sort of thing.
Sadly, customers are 5th in line for their money when a companies goes bust, and it's not a bad rule of thumb to say if there's any money left after paying the liquidation fees, secured lends, staff and the bank - then they wouldn't have gone bust in the first place.
Ok, so Ticket Fairy are simply the payment service provider (as in they have the capability to process financial transactions) and keep no funds in a client account to then pass to Grillstock, correct ?
Then Grillstock are the OPs first point of call.
(didn’t know the whole situ)
Its common in my world for big payment processors to simply process the fin transaction and keep no funds/monies on behalf of client nor customer, the processor simply charges client a small per transaction fee and invoiced to client at a later date.
Well, good news today. Letter from Santander have credited my account and are now pursuing Grillstock. They said the company has 45 days to respond. So I can only assume the evidence I gave them showed Santdaner that I was perfectly entitled to a refund and Grillstock totally ignored all communications from me. Win!