Nelly was set to be the headline act at the cancelled Juicy Fest Tauranga concert. Photo / Paul Taylor
Nelly was set to be the headline act at the cancelled Juicy Fest Tauranga concert. Photo / Paul Taylor
The promoter of the cancelled Tauranga concert Juicy Fest has apologised as 13,000 disappointed ticketholders remain without refunds a month later.
The January 6 Tauranga leg of the Juicy Fest tour was cancelled due to bad weather hours before the concert was set to start.
As many as 15,000 people were expected to attend, and the tickets cost $193.28 for general admission, $316.28 for VIP tickets and $1033.78 for platinum VIP entry.
On the day of the cancellation, the organisers posted a message on social media stating refunds would be processed within 14 working days, but on January 19, the organisers said in another post they were still working with the ticketing vendor on “logistics to streamline the process”.
Promoter Glenn Meikle said ticketholders should receive their refunds in the next two days.
Tauranga mother Becky Libeccio, along with her husband, brother, sister-in-law and a group of five friends were looking forward to the concert.
Libeccio said she and her husband, from Pyes Pa, bought their tickets using the payment plan offered by the organisers for $480, and the last payment came out of her ANZ bank account in October.
“My husband and I were so excited, as the Juicy Fest was the second big concert we would have attended as a couple, and it would have been the very first concert ever for him and my brother.
“We were all really looking forward to seeing the headline act Nelly perform. And because the venue was close to where we live, we didn’t have to travel far, and fortunately, we didn’t need to pay for accommodation.
Juicy Fest Tauranga ticketholders Becky Libeccio (left) and Hannah Kent, both from Tauranga, are still waiting for their refunds. Photo / Becky Libecco
“It was also our third wedding anniversary, so we decided to make a real big weekend of activities and we had all booked babysitters.”
Libeccio said despite sending three emails to the concert promoter’s email address and six messages to the festival’s Facebook page, she said she got no response and was yet to receive their refund.
“That’s a lot of money, especially with the cost of living, including food, going up, and I’m only working part-time. It’s a week’s worth of groceries for us, or [could have] helped pay for my daughter’s birthday party or other bills. "
A frustrated Libeccio said she had expected a refund within seven days, but organisers posted it would take 14 business days.
Libecco said she contacted her bank to see if it could reverse the payments, but was told because the last payment was made more than 90 days ago, that was no longer possible.
Hannah Kent, from Welcome Bay, bought two tickets for her and her husband Daniel under the same payment plan and said she was waiting for her refund. She also pre-bought two Juicy Fest wristbands worth $250 on January 5.
“Bizarrely, I received a refund for the wristbands on January 24. I am a bit concerned, because some of the ticket payments came out of my husband’s account and some payments also were withdrawn from my expired bank card, and some from my new bank card. "
“This is a lot of money ... I do think we will get refunds eventually, but now it’s just a waiting game for us and the thousands of other ticketholders.”
Speaking to the Bay of Plenty Times yesterday, Meikle said arranging refunds for close to 13,000 ticketholders for the cancelled concert had, unfortunately, become a “much bigger job” than expected.
“People were always going to get their money back. We should have said refunds would be made in 30 days, as was the case for the One Love festival, rather than 14 business days.
“We mucked up and I sincerely apologise for that.”
Meikle said his team was “ready to push go today” to send the refunds to the ticketholders, which should arrive in the next two days.
“I understand it’s a lot of money and understand our customers’ frustration. We are genuinely sorry for over-promising the time it would take to make these refunds, and for any inconvenience caused to the ticketholders.”
Consumer NZ spokeswoman Rebecca Styles said a refund should be made from the ticketing agent within 20 days. If the ticket agent refuses to process a refund, ticketholders should contact their bank and ask for a chargeback - a refund to their credit or debit card, she said.
Styles also said the ticketing agent should be able to change where the funds are paid to if any ticketholders have since changed their bank or bank card.
