Festival cancellations and booking fees

[BagpussSeesAllThings]

Hey all, wasn't sure where to put this as it, unfortunately, will probably effect a lot of festivals this year. Love Supreme festival postponed this week and I've now received details on refunds from the festival/ticket line and we have been told that we will only have the ticket face value returned, which means around £25 per ticket will be lost in booking fees. 

Is this a standard practice on all festivals that are being cancelled? It seems like a lot of money for us punters who have taken a chance on the festival to lose when it's no fault of our own that it's no longer going ahead, and to be honest if it is normal it will make me think twice before booking in future so it's counter productive for the event organiser/ ticket reseller.

 

[atomised]

It's standard for most events. The booking fee is to cover staffing and infrastructure costs of whichever agency handles the sale. It is stated in the terms and conditions usually though some are fortunate enough to get full refunds when they push the agencies in question 

[JBarbour]

5 hours ago, mattiosmith said:

Hey all, wasn't sure where to put this as it, unfortunately, will probably effect a lot of festivals this year. Love Supreme festival postponed this week and I've now received details on refunds from the festival/ticket line and we have been told that we will only have the ticket face value returned, which means around £25 per ticket will be lost in booking fees. 

Is this a standard practice on all festivals that are being cancelled? It seems like a lot of money for us punters who have taken a chance on the festival to lose when it's no fault of our own that it's no longer going ahead, and to be honest if it is normal it will make me think twice before booking in future so it's counter productive for the event organiser/ ticket reseller.

 

If you paid via Credit Card you could try and claim the amount back that way? 

[thatTFBguy]

I lost about £17 when Catfish cancelled the Clapham Common show in May 2020. Pretty scummy that I basically paid nearly £20 to NOT see a gig. Unfortunately seems to be common place. 

[thewayiam]

13 hours ago, thatTFBguy said:

I lost about £17 when Catfish cancelled the Clapham Common show in May 2020. Pretty scummy that I basically paid nearly £20 to NOT see a gig. Unfortunately seems to be common place. 

Exactly why I am holding back from booking anything until the go ahead it fully confirmed. With these August Festivals cancelling I'm not fully convinced on September 4th for Catfish. The Offspring in November is the first I'm confident about but again if I have to wear a face mask to it then I'll sell the ticket for it because the gig is to enjoy it. I wear glasses and am asthmatic so basically I'd be going to constantly wipe my lenses. No enjoyment in that.

[thatTFBguy]

5 hours ago, thewayiam said:

Exactly why I am holding back from booking anything until the go ahead it fully confirmed. With these August Festivals cancelling I'm not fully convinced on September 4th for Catfish. The Offspring in November is the first I'm confident about but again if I have to wear a face mask to it then I'll sell the ticket for it because the gig is to enjoy it. I wear glasses and am asthmatic so basically I'd be going to constantly wipe my lenses. No enjoyment in that.

I’m trying to stay optimistic about September. Neighbourhood Weekender Sunday is a bit of a personal dream lineup for me and the missus, so desperate for it to happen.

id be the same about a gig in a mask though, would just completely spoil it. 

[thewayiam]

22 minutes ago, thatTFBguy said:

I’m trying to stay optimistic about September. Neighbourhood Weekender Sunday is a bit of a personal dream lineup for me and the missus, so desperate for it to happen.

id be the same about a gig in a mask though, would just completely spoil it. 

It's not, not being optimistic but I don't want to commit money to something until I know for sure it's going to run. And there was a guy that said these Swansea Park gigs rarely ever actually sell out.

[pedrogooch]

Standard for most, I'm afraid. Card fees/processing fees and all those costs get absorbed by the ticket agent, then again refunding orders. Plus whatever other costs there are. I doubt most festivals will pay that back to the ticket agent and the ticket agent isn't in a position to insist their client does, so the customer gets saddled with it.

[Supernintendo Chalmers]

I'm with @thewayiamon this one. I posted a week or so ago that until there's more certainty over whether gigs and festivals between July and September go ahead, I'm a little reluctant to commit. My point then was mostly around the length of time it was taking to process refunds (some agents were taking up to 3-6 months) but I hadn't even considered the loss of booking fees, etc. 

I do believe that events will go ahead in late summer but I probably won't be committing until there's more clarity, which I can only assume won't be until at least June 21. If there are tickets available for anything that takes my interest at that time, great, if not, that's on me, roll on 2022. 

The whole booking/processing/card fee situation needs to be reviewed as these costs are getting out of hand. In @mattiosmith case, £25 per ticket is a ridiculous amount of money to lose for an event that didn't take place.

Since tickets have been able to be printed at home, agents seemed to have shifted the costs they previously charged for printing and postage elsewhere. 

Edited May 10, 2021 by Supernintendo Chalmers

[Mr Carbohydrate]

15 hours ago, thewayiam said:

It's not, not being optimistic but I don't want to commit money to something until I know for sure it's going to run. And there was a guy that said these Swansea Park gigs rarely ever actually sell out.

I’m going to go against the grain here and be optimistic 😜 My first festival of the summer is Kubix in Sunderland and wait for it... it’s 3rd July!  The levellers, stiff little fingers, futureheads, cast, sleeper, wedding present, new model army, wilko Johnson, the farm, hugh Cornwall and more, can’t wait 😁

Of course  I’ve been nail biting as much as the next person at the thought the full season will be cancelled again, but then they post this on their Facebook page last weekend.  I’d say reason to be optimist assuming Boris doesn’t take it out of their hands