Concert gets cancelled midway - do I have rights?

Lindsay Lohan

So last fall I went to a concert. We saw the (terrible) opening act and then the main act came on, visibly ill with flu/cold type stuff. They stopped at least twice for 5 minutes to go out back, and then finally after doing maybe a total of 45 minutes on stage they apologized, said they would come back and do a full show and to save our tickets, and then left.

It was finally announced a few weeks ago they weren't coming back to do the rescheduled show. I emailed the venue looking for a refund and was told that since they performed an hour it counts as a show and that the band should have consulted with their managers before saying it would be rescheduled.

This seems wrong to me. If I see 20 minutes of a movie and the projector breaks, I get a free ticket or refund. I paid for a show and didn't even get half of what I expected. Anyone have any ideas on if I have right in this case to push for some or all of my money back?

amateurhour

Obviously not a lawyer, but if the venue didn't authorize any kind of refunds or anything like that then they're not really on the hook for it. If someone recorded the band saying "hey, save your tickets cause we're totally going to re-do this show" then maybe you've got a case for a ticket refund from the band, but if they played for about an hour and you saw the opening act then it's gonna be a tough sell.

Lindsay Lohan

They announced it, but also tweeted that they would reschedule (the tweet is still there).

bowen

Did you order it with a credit card by any chance?

Lindsay Lohan

Debit card probably - I don't use cash for anything.

BlindZenDriver

That the nature of live shows as opposed to watching something recorded. One never knows exactly what ones will get - most time it's good, great or maybe even amazing and other times it's a total disaster.

The one hour rule seems to be sort of a standard in the business so I would suppose it has been challenged before. I think moving on unless the concert was somehow super expensive is the best choice.

amateurhour

Lindsey Lohan wrote:

They announced it, but also tweeted that they would reschedule (the tweet is still there).

When you say "they" you mean the venue, or the artist? If it's the venue, send them an e-mail asking for a refund, if they say no, send them a copy of the tweet, although that may cause them to just delete it and then it's a case of "did you photoshop this?"

Esh

Ask yourself if lawyering up is going to cost you more or less than the ticket price. I'm willing to bet it's not worth the time or money spent.

Lindsay Lohan

amateurhour wrote:

Lindsey Lohan wrote:

They announced it, but also tweeted that they would reschedule (the tweet is still there).

When you say "they" you mean the venue, or the artist? If it's the venue, send them an e-mail asking for a refund, if they say no, send them a copy of the tweet, although that may cause them to just delete it and then it's a case of "did you photoshop this?"

Sorry, the artist. I've tried the venue and got a no. I guess I'm out the cash - I at least wish they would have found a way to get us tix to another nearby show...I understand if coming back to Maine isn't overly appealing

zepherin

If you paid with a credit card you can always back charge them.

Aioua

zepherin wrote:

If you paid with a credit card you can always back charge them.

And the OP said debit earlier, but in the US there isn't really a distinction. There are debit-only cards but they are extremely uncommon. You'd know if you had one because you'd have to use a PIN for any transaction.

However, even then you'd prolly be SOL if they disputed your chargeback. Probably some clause you agreed to somewhere saying they don't have to refund you for X, Y, or Z reasons.

Lindsay Lohan

No biggie - just thought I'd get opinions. They cancelled the next two shows and rescheduled them, I'm pretty sure ours didn't get rescheduled because they only sold about 20% by the looks of things.

zepherin

Aioua wrote:

zepherin wrote:

If you paid with a credit card you can always back charge them.

And the OP said debit earlier, but in the US there isn't really a distinction. There are debit-only cards but they are extremely uncommon. You'd know if you had one because you'd have to use a PIN for any transaction.

However, even then you'd prolly be SOL if they disputed your chargeback. Probably some clause you agreed to somewhere saying they don't have to refund you for X, Y, or Z reasons.

The clause is only functional if the contract is valid, although they did see 45 minutes of the band playing and that may be a valid contract even though the band didn't perform well. Now you can always name and shame them. The consumerist is a good place to start, talking to the band itself about your problem and have them name and shame the venue is also a fantastic way to get traction. Call the venue back one more time and record your conversation (assuming your in a 1 party notification state if not transcribe the call). Then send it to the band and start a PR shitstorm. It's fun and easy.

Melinoe

zepherin wrote:

Aioua wrote:

zepherin wrote:

If you paid with a credit card you can always back charge them.

And the OP said debit earlier, but in the US there isn't really a distinction. There are debit-only cards but they are extremely uncommon. You'd know if you had one because you'd have to use a PIN for any transaction.

However, even then you'd prolly be SOL if they disputed your chargeback. Probably some clause you agreed to somewhere saying they don't have to refund you for X, Y, or Z reasons.

The clause is only functional if the contract is valid, although they did see 45 minutes of the band playing and that may be a valid contract even though the band didn't perform well. Now you can always name and shame them. The consumerist is a good place to start, talking to the band itself about your problem and have them name and shame the venue is also a fantastic way to get traction. Call the venue back one more time and record your conversation (assuming your in a 1 party notification state if not transcribe the call). Then send it to the band and start a PR shitstorm. It's fun and easy.

I wish you had said this when I missed Dream Theater when they were opening for Iron Maiden. Got there 45 minutes early but it took them an hour and a half to process us through their "special" security, and they were only letting people through a quarter of the venue's gates.