Photo: Unsplash / Joey Thompson
There is a call for laws to be introduced by demanding that ticket sellers for big events will keep the gamblers ‘trusted money so that we do not see a repetition of fans’ money down the drain after canceled festivals.
A musical event promoter says the mess caused by the cancellation of Juicy Fest and timeless Summer proves that current regulations lose the target when it comes to protecting gamblers.
The report of an initial liquidator estimates that the three companies behind the events owe the creditors more than $ 2.4 million.
Picacholders who tried to receive their money back to the ticket agency’s fairy of tickets were informed that the company no longer has its money, as all the funds were transferred to the prosecutor.
It is a model that some ticket companies use and is not a co-founder of Eccles Entertainment, Brent Eccles, is interested.
“They sold their services based on the fact that the prosecutor can receive his money and we hope that if something goes wrong, they will be well discounted enough to reimburse the money,” he says.
There is no law saying that organizers need to sell tickets to the event through a ticket company, but Eccles says many do for various reasons, including promotional opportunities. In many cases, prosecutors have no choice, because the places insist that their hired tickets are part of the package.
“Spark Arena is a good example, you need to use Ticketmaster, without Ses or But Buts … [it’s] Therefore, they can have a consistency to where the place works and how their seats work. “
For Eccles, it is also a security issue for him and ticket buyers. He uses companies that keep the money in a Trust, only releasing the funds after the event occurred.
“I know the money is safe, I know there is a good system to sell tickets, I know it won’t break.
“The prosecutor probably pays a little, and the ticket buyer pays a little to make sure the system works and I think it’s worth it,” he says.
In the case of Juicy Fest and Summer Timeless, the Fairy Ticket company did not cling to money and now with the two companies in Liquidation Eccles says the chances of the strokes receiving their money back are small.
He cares about the impact this will have on the entertainment industry in terms of consumer confidence and says that if nothing changes, it is just a matter of time until that happens again.
“We are trying to make the government look at this situation and say, ‘You need to do something about it, this is crazy.’
“There is a lot of money involved, millions and millions of dollars that go through these bickets and with business becoming so large in New Zealand [the government] You have to protect the consumer, “says Eccles.
In a written statement, the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Scott Simpson, said to the details that he is disappointed to learn that those who bought tickets were not reimbursed. He is also aware of the requests for changes in the sector after this case.
“There are a wide range of existing protections for consumers in New Zealand. For example, a consumer’s rights to canceled tickets are generally defined in the terms and conditions of their entry. Any statements must be true and not misleading, and if there is a violation, consumers may be able to obtain damage to the amount of their loss,” said Simpson.
He encourages tickets who seek a refund to also send a complaint of creditors’ complaint to the liquidator.
“The Trade Commission is currently investigating this case, and I look forward to their findings with interest,” says Simpson.
The detail also speaks to NZ reporter Chris Schulz, who has his own experience with canceled festivals, where the organizers went into liquidation.
He thinks the cancellation of Juicy Fest and timeless summer is just the tip of the iceberg.
“The event industry is like a boom and bust industry. In boom times, you see all these shows all these festivals, postcovid, there were so many events.
“Now we are coming at the end of it … We are still in a recession, there is not much money overwhelming floating for things like tickets, people are being very demanding with what they go … And that is where you start to see the festivals fall, you are seeing shows canceled because they are not selling enough tickets,” says Schulz.
But it was not the lack of sales of tickets that led to the death of Juicy Fest and Summer Summer. Juicy Fest Limited mentioned not being able to get an alcohol license for the Auckland site as the reason for the cancellation.
The Auckland District Licensing Committee has made the decision based on issues at previous festivals and issued a 198 pages documenting these problems.
The regulation of ticket sales fits the Consumer Guarantee Law and the Fair Trade Law.
Schulz says both work very well until a company is liquidated.
“This money has disappeared, the company is no longer running, the festivals have not happened and there is this really long process for people to recover their money,” he says.
Schulz agrees with Eccles that a change of law forcing companies to keep customer money until the event will make a big difference.
“This is what would protect consumers here, if an event company sold a lot of tickets, this money should be set aside so that if it does not happen, it can be returned to the fases.”
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