Punters Not Happy As Refund Confusion Plagues Axed Maitreya Festival

It was officially cancelled just one day before it was scheduled to go ahead, but the dust hasn't settled for Melbourne's Maitreya Festival as a number of punters are claiming that they are yet to be refunded for their tickets and that organisers are not responding to their concerns.

A representative from the festival's ticketing outlet, TryBooking, has told theMusic that refunds will be handed out by organisers as soon as they evacuate from the Charlton site and are asking for patience from ticket holders.

Despite repeated attempts from theMusic, TryBooking would not confirm or deny whether they hold legal responsibility for the ticket refunds, nor could they guarantee a time at which refunds will begin to be handed out and have since insisted that punters contact organisers for more details. 

When pressed as to who was responsible for refunds, a TryBooking employee told us, "I'm not sure, to be honest, how that all works legally.

"We are working with them though...we'll be working closely with them once they've made a decision of how they want to go about it."  

The only avenue available to contact organisers is through an email address on the festival website, though many claim they are yet to get a response. Festival promoters have also not responded to approaches made by theMusic.

Many punters have taken to the Maitreya Facebook page to raise their concerns about refunds and earlier this week, a fan-made page titled, "How to get your money back from Maitreya support group" was launched and a statement was released today from the group moderators, who allege that a number of food and market stall owners have lost their deposits paid to Maitreya and that organisers are refusing to pay refunds. 

They have also alleged that Consumer Affairs Victoria is in discussions with Victoria Police due to the growing number of complaints, though this can not be confirmed. 

A spokesperson for Consumer Affairs Victoria has told theMusic that anyone who bought a ticket to the now-cancelled festival is entitled to a full refund. 

"People should request the refund from the company that sold them the festival ticket," the CAV spokesperson said.

TheMusic has seen a credit card statement from one ticket holder that clearly shows TryBooking as the merchant for the event. 

The spokesperson added, "Consumers who bought their tickets with a credit card may also be able to seek a chargeback from their bank if attempts to get a refund from the business are not successful.

"For further advice, people can contact Consumer Affairs Victoria on 1300 55 81 81."

At this point, CAV have advised ticket holders "there is no reason" to contact the promoter.

Australian Consumer Law dictates that “if the goods are not delivered", a refund must be made by the “acquiring party”. In this case "the goods" is the entertainment event and “the acquirer” is the ticket company. This would suggest that the ticket company are obligated to repay the ticket money, regardless of what contract they made with the promoters.

Commenting on the situation, Brian “Smash” Chladil, CEO of Oztix, Australia’s largest independent ticket company told theMusic, "We are hearing a lot of cases of small ticket companies – in order to win the business -  are giving the promoter the ticket funds instead of holding them in trust for the patrons.

"That’s all okay until the promoter, having spent all the money,  can’t get the event to happen and then there is no money for refunds. It’s happening more and more.

"Really what the ticket company has to realise is that they are moving the risk from the promoter to the punter. Again the little guy gets screwed. Maybe the promoter should let the punters share in the profits if they have to share in the risk."