Welcome to Sisters In Law, news.com.au’s weekly column solving all of your legal problems. This week, lawyers and real-life sisters Alison and Jillian Barrett from Maurice Blackburn advise on getting a refund back after a music festival.
Question:
My friends and I went to Splendour in the Grass in Byron last weekend and it was a disaster! We had a weekend ticket with camping and spent more time queuing than enjoying the music. On Friday there was a huge line of cars to get in the camping area that we sat in for over five hours. Then on Friday night the main stage music was cancelled anyway.
At this point we decided to ditch the camping and stay with my aunty nearby.
On Saturday it was more queuing for buses to get into the festival and then on Saturday night we waited over five hours to get a bus out.
I was exhausted but for all of the wrong reasons. What are my rights if I want to get a refund or at least some of my money back? – Jasmine, Queensland
Answer:
As you know Jasmine there were thousands of people caught in the chaos at Splendour in the Grass caused by the unexpected weather event.
The event organisers have now issued a statement stating that some refunds (including partial refunds) would be processed for certain ticket holders.
The important question though is, is what is on offer enough?
With all of Friday’s headline acts cancelled, event organisers have announced they will provide full refunds for Friday ticket holders – general admission, VIP event tickets, bus tickets and day parking.
For those that had three-day festival tickets, a proportionate refund would be provided (so a third of the cost of the ticket).
Finally, Saturday’s bus ticket, which you were forced to wait for over five hours for, will be refunded.
The event organisers have made no commitment to refunding any ticket holders for camping permits if ticket holders decided to not stay, or admission, bus or parking tickets if ticket holders found the rain and mud all too much and decided not to attend the event at all.
In understanding whether you are entitled to a refund over and above what is on offer, you need to understand the basics of the Australian Consumer Law which regulates this situation.
Under that law, when things go wrong with any product or service that you have paid for, you have the right to a repair, replacement or a refund.
Obviously in the situation of festival tickets a refund is the only realistic option given it was a one-off event and it was not postponed to another date.
Helpfully the law outlines certain warranties or guarantees that protect you and a business cannot modify these guarantees or have you sign away your rights.
When you purchased the ticket there would have been ‘fine print’ which outlined various terms and conditions that cannot breach the law, and if they do they will not be enforceable by the event organiser.
In short, if the fine print states something like ‘no refunds under any circumstances’ this will not be enforceable.
The festival ticketing agent, Moshtix should be your first point of call in requesting a refund for the Friday event ticket and the Saturday bus. This should be relatively straightforward.
Splendour organisers have invited anyone who considers they are entitled to a refund above this to contact them directly.
In your situation this would relate to a refund for your camping fees given you chose not to camp and potentially part of your ticket cost for the Saturday if you missed some acts because of delays with the bus when travelling to the festival.
When you contact the organisers, you should do so in writing and detail the reasons why you believe you are entitled to a refund.
To get a refund, the law says you need to show that there has been a major change or a major disruption to the event which has prevented you from participating or enjoying what was advertised.
Event organisers have a duty of care to provide a safe environment and venue so if you had genuine health and safety concerns specific to you and chose not to camp because of these you could very well be entitled to an additional refund above what is on offer.
If you have any documents to support this (like a letter from your doctor) you should also include this in your request for a refund.
A refund wouldn’t have to be provided if for example, your reason for not camping was because you were concerned about catching a cold or Covid-19.
With respect to the queues on Saturday and delays arriving at the festival because of the bus, if you missed part of the event because of this you will likely have good grounds to request a partial refund to represent what you missed out on.
Finally, if you paid for the tickets with a credit card (or even a debit card) you should immediately consider lodging a ‘chargeback’ request with your bank. They can investigate and run the dispute for you.
You can further investigate your rights by contacting the consumer agency in your state.
This legal information is general in nature and should not be regarded as specific legal advice or relied upon. Persons requiring particular legal advice should consult a solicitor.
If you have a legal question you would like Alison and Jillian to answer, please email stories@news.com.au
Get more from Alison and Jillian on their Facebook page
