An Arizona couple says they were left fighting for a $1,180 refund after an outdoor music event was canceled just 36 hours before it was scheduled to begin. According to the couple, the organizer refused to issue refunds and instead claimed the tickets would automatically transfer to a future event that hadn’t even been announced yet.
The boyfriend, who goes by BloodySheriff12 on Reddit, was understandably frustrated by the ordeal and requested a refund of the $1,180 he paid. According to his post on r/legal, the event organizer responded to his request with a screenshot of their terms, saying that “all purchases are final and non-refundable” under certain circumstances.
“The strange part,” BloodySheriff12 points out, “is that the event wasn’t postponed or relocated. It was fully canceled.” The whole “ticket transfer” thing for a mystery event next year doesn’t constitute any of the terms and conditions either. “I just didn’t think ‘no refunds for lineup changes’ meant ‘we can cancel the entire thing and keep $1,180,’” the boyfriend wrote.
OP also mentioned he contacted his card company to dispute the charge for a service not provided, but the organizer threatened the couple. BloodySheriff12 claimed the manager said they’d be “banned from future events and sent to collections if the bank temporarily reverses the charge.” If that’s not an intimidation tactic, it’s hard to know what is.
Commenters Suggest the Arizona Couple Take Things Up with Their Bank via Dispute or Charge
Redditors in the post’s comments were on the boyfriend’s side, with one top commenter being supportive in a rather blunt way. “Dispute with credit card, being banned from future events wouldn’t bother me because I wouldn’t want to give them my money again,” they wrote.
“Just because it’s their policy or whatever doesn’t trump state law,” added another. “Charge back. You don’t want to attend anything they host in the future,” suggested a third. “Get a film company involved and watch these people eventually go to jail,” remarked a fourth.
While some suggested contacting the Arizona Attorney General or pursuing legal action, most commenters agreed the couple’s best option was to dispute the charge with their credit card company. Many argued that if the event was canceled outright, transferring tickets to an unspecified future event wasn’t the same as providing the service that had been purchased.
