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Dear Which?
I bought four tickets in February 2020 to see Johnny Vegas later that year, costing £198.
The show was postponed twice due to Covid restrictions, and was eventually cancelled after M&B Promotions, the event organisers, went bust.
I contacted PayPal for a refund, but it rejected my claim as it was outside the window for raising a dispute. I then tried Lloyds, having paid with my debit card through PayPal, who initially refunded me the money.
But I then received a message to say the money would be re-debited back out of my account as Lloyds was unable to retrieve the money from M&B Promotions.
I've repeatedly contested the decision but Lloyds told me that Visa's timeframe to raise a dispute can't exceed 540 days from the transaction - which, due to Covid, has of course passed.
It's unfair that I've paid money for tickets that I can no longer use - please can you help get my money back?
David, South Shields
Put to Rights
Hannah Downes, consumer rights expert at Which?, says:
It must be so frustrating that after being postponed so many times throughout the pandemic your event has now been cancelled.
Sadly, lots of planned events were thrown into turmoil after M&B Promotions collapsed into administration earlier this year - including McFly, UB40 and Comedy in the Park shows.
Your rights to a refund in these instances are limited - though you can try making a Section 75 claim if you paid by credit card, or attempt a chargeback claim through your bank if you paid by debit card. But as you experienced, David, there's no guarantee your bank will accept the chargeback claim for purchases made as far back as early 2020.
We contacted Lloyds asking them to reconsider their decision and received both good and bad news: Lloyds has agreed to refund you in full, but only as a gesture of goodwill (citing service issues you experienced when trying to log a claim), rather than as a successful chargeback claim.
This means there's likely many others who paid via debit card for cancelled shows will still be left out-of-pocket, but it shows it's always worthwhile appealing if you're claim is initially refused.
If you too are unhappy with how your bank has dealt with your claim, you can complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) and get in touch at yourstory@which.co.uk.
Need to know
- If an event you've got tickets for is cancelled, you can request a refund from the ticketing company you ordered from (if they're a primary ticket seller belonging to the Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers).
- Event organiser and ticketing company refusing a refund? Try making a Section 75 claim if you paid by credit card, or a chargeback claim if you paid by debit card.
- You can complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service if you're unhappy with how the bank handled your claim.
Get in touch. If you’ve got a consumer rights problem you need put right email us at yourstory@which.co.uk
Please be aware that we cannot help with, or respond to every email that we receive. The inbox is monitored periodically during office hours, Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.
source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/im-out-of-pocket-for-tickets-after-an-event-company-went-bust-can-i-get-my-money-back-alqis9V7WGJg