Soundwave Ticket Fiasco: Chargeback To The Rescue

After yesterday’s announcement that the Soundwave festival is officially over, how customers can seek refunds has become a very messy situation with promoter AJ Maddah accusing ticketing company Eventopia of refusing to pay out customers, however NSW Consumer Affairs have finally given punters some direction as to how they can claim their money back.

Consumer Affairs have confirmed to theMusic that punters who purchased tickets via credit cards can seek a chargeback through their financial institution, in which a credit card provider refund the money to a customer before demanding that the retailer make good on a fraudulent or disputed transaction.

Customers are being encouraged to contact their bank if they are experiencing difficulty in contacting Soundwave and Eventopia and if they still are having trouble, they are being advised to lodge a complaint with Consumer Affairs.

Below are the links to different banks in Australia that provide chargebacks.

"We want to refund [but] the customers' money is with the promoter," Curnow said.

"We have sent AJ Maddah a letter of demand requiring the return of the proceeds."

It has been reported that at least 50,000 tickets have been sold across the Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane events, indicating that $8 million was made in ticket sales and official Soundwave documents also say that pre-sales alone generated $2 million.

While opting not to disclose the exact figure, Curnow claims that Maddah is yet to release the funds or respond to questions on the matter.

"Eventopia wants to pay up as soon as the promoter returns the money," he said.

"We believed in the festival, we believed in AJ. Up until yesterday we thought the festival would go ahead."

Last night just hours after he announced that Soundwave was officially over, Maddah alleged to fans who were asking about refunds that it is the responsibility of Eventopia and blasted the company on his Twitter account.

"SEVEN HUNDRED MILLION DOLLAR CORPORATION trying to get out of refunding fans and heaping it on broke promoter via dirt tactics," he tweeted last night.