Beachdown Festival - A victim of "Climate"

If it wasn’t bad enough that they ruined our bank holiday plans at 48 hours notice, it is now a week on and still the news on refunds is best described as wholly inadequate.

To add insult to injury, every time something remotely helpful is added to the beachdown Facebook “fan” page, it is deleted , and the discussion board on the group page has been deleted all together.

Brighton Fusion’s Alison Waller has setup a seperate group to share whatever information becomes available and allow for uncensored discussion between beachdown ticketholders re. refunds.

Click here to join the group

So you bought your ticket…festival cancelled…its now a week later and information relating to refunds is all but none existent. What can be done?

It seems if you paid by credit card, the way forward is relatively hassle free… check this link from which? on section 75 of the consumer credit act:

http://www.which.co.uk/advice/understanding-the-consumer-credit-act/your-rights/index.jsp

If you got your ticket through one of the big ticket agencies (see tickets, ticketline etc) you should be able to claim a refund directly from them, in accordance with their terms and conditions.

However, if you paid in cash at one of the many local ticket outlets, including Rounder or Resident, you are, like me, unlikely to see anything at all without a fight.

Advice from Consumer Direct today (the national consumer advice line who deal with calls from the public on behalf of Trading Standards) says in normal circumstances, it WOULD be the vendor of the tickets who you would pursue for a refund. However, in this case, it is clear local outlets have been acting purely as agents for beachdown, so this would not be appropriate.

1. First and foremost, it is important that anyone affected by beachdown’s cancellation calls Consumer Direct themselves. The number is 08454 040506. Consumer Direct have already referred this case to Trading Standards who have the power to wind up the company, fine the directors and ensure they never run a company again. The more people lodge complaints, the more weight is added to this case. Please call Consumer Direct, it will take maybe ten minutes out your day.
2. Following on from this, the only recourse left to cash-paying ticket holders is the Small Claims Court. The first step in this process is to send a letter to the company directors informing them of your intentions. As we all know the beachdown office has been cleared, but unfortunately for these clowns, it’s all too easy to track down addresses online these days.

Festival Futures Limited is the company behind beachdown. Its registered address is:

4A Gildredge Road
Eastbourne
BN21 4RL

This is an accountant, a very nice man called Graham Ralph, who is also out of pocket thanks to beachdown. He informs me that whilst he is unable to give out the director’s contact information, he will be sure to pass on any correspondence that arrives for them.

Unfortunately for beachdown, it is all too easy to track down addresses on the internet these days. Consumer Direct inform me that, in the absence of the provision of a contact address, any information sent to the private addresses of the directors as listed at Companies House will be considered delivered by the court for the purposes of Small Claims.

Here are those addresses:

Mr John Murphy
22 Egginton Road
Brighton
BN2 4PL

Mr Darren Murphy
Flat 2 St Nicholas Court
51 Centurion Road
Brighton
BN1 3LN

Mr Johnathon Mark Pidgeon
20 Ditchling Rise
Brighton
BN1 4QL

The first step in the small claims procedure is to send a letter detailing your request for a refund, the steps you have taken to secure this so far, and your intention to pursue the matter through the small claims court should it become necessary. Send this REGISTERED POST to any or all of the addresses above ASAP. Once I have written a template letter, I will post it here.

If anyone has any expertise or advice to add please contribute below or on the group.

Letter template

Send this letter registered post to each of the company directors at their home address and also to their registered address today. This is a precursor to a final warning letter, after which you can proceed to a County Court claim, should this still be necessary.

Dear Mr Pidgeon/Mr D. Murphy/Mr J. Murphy,

Following the clearance of your office in North Road, and your continued avoidance of telephone calls I have no choice but to contact you at your home address with regard to the matter of a refund for the tickets I purchased for the recently cancelled beachdown festival.

The statement on your website refers me to the seller of those tickets – as you must surely know, given that you have been avoiding those ticket sellers since the announcement was made, they have no information to offer me.

This letter formalises my request for concrete information on how Future Festivals intends to refund the value of the beachdown tickets I purchased at the total cost of £[XXXX]. I would take this opportunity to remind you that the tickets are printed with a statement reassuring purchasers of their eligibility for a full refund in the event of cancellation on the back. Given that it has already been [XX] days since your official announcement of the festival’s cancellation, during which the information provided has been insultingly paltry, I am expecting to hear Future Festival’s firm plans for the return of ticket holders money by no later than [XXXX]

Should this information not be forthcoming, I will not hesitate to pursue this matter through the courts.

Sincerely,

[XXXXXX]