[2020 Line-up Thread]

At this moment, eotr have still not opened twickets for resale ) I'm selling my ticket as can't/won't travel from Spain. they also haven't let anyone book the festival coach yet, no comedy stage announcements...the list goes on.

It's all getting a little late now for those wanting to plan their trip and who to see etc, it's usually all sorted way before now. 

[2020 Line-up Thread]

2 minutes ago, xxialac said:

What you suggest is extremely sensible but I doubt they’ll have on-site testing. 
 

Imagine if you haven’t been vaccinated, you’ll need to get a test done before, same as going to the airport.

It would only be fair to offer a ticket to next year for those who test positive.

After some initial issues on the first day, they were testing 1500 people an hour and my friends who went said it was super quick and also made for a great festival atmosphere, as everyone felt more at ease. 

I believe some people have tested positive after the festival so it's not completely fool proof but saying that, Covid cases here in Catalonia are higher than it's ever been since the pandemic began, by a HUGE amount. It's out of control.

[2020 Line-up Thread]

I know eotr have some connection with Vida festival, in Vilanova, just south of Barcelona. They had eotr dj's play a couple of years ago.

Well, Vida went ahead just a couple of weeks ago and they had a company who did a covid test as you entered and the results were sent immediately to your phone. Anyone who was positive was sent home but given a full refund and invited for free to the following years festival. Maybe eotr will do the same?

However, with the UK opening up on the 19th July, but with cases on a massive rise (especially among the 18-30's) who knows what might happen between now and the festival. I find it odd that tickets for resale are not allowed on Twickets yet (of which  have one as I won't be travelling from here in Spain) and things like coach reservation are also not open. Maybe they still have doubts about going ahead? I hope not but who knows?

This will be only the 2nd eotr i will have missed since it started, so anyone who is going, have a great time! 🙂

[Primavera Sound 2020]

17 hours ago, xxialac said:

There are a lot of falsehoods in your message.

- If the festival acts out of line I will be as vocal as anyone else about it. But they're not, so I'm not. I'm replaying the same line over and again, which is that people need to cut the organisers some slack, faced with what must be a monumental logistics nightmare for them. And one that has happened through no fault of their own.

- You don't understand economics. The current bank rate here is a pitiful 0.1%, similar in Europe. And that's the favourable rate that central banks are getting, not what bank customers get. Primavera are not financially benefiting from having money in their account for a few weeks.

- I'm very sorry for all people who have lost income and even more so those who have lost their jobs. And I don't think the 200 euros is a minimal cost to people...if it was being lost, that would be a blow for many and I'd sympathise. But it's not. People are getting their money back.

- I don't believe so many people are needing for cashflow reasons the return of 200 euros right now, as you so melodramatically put it, to 'put food on the table'. People who go to Primavera are by global standards doing pretty well and have ways of accessing borrowings from friends, savings, overdraft facilities, credit cards (upon which payment is suspended for 3 months at the moment), valuable possessions that can be sold in the extreme case (the poster above mentions his camera is worth 800 euros) etc etc. 

Here's some perspective:

Musicians stand to lose all their income, no way of paying the bills for god knows how long. They're self employed, they can't be furloughed.

Primavera attendees have to wait a few weeks for the full return of 200 euros.

 

Who are you to say that people who attend the festival don't need money for food on the table? I know many people who save up all year just to attend one festival, it's their only break in the whole year. So please, YOU may have plenty of money and not bothered if you get your money back or not, but please don't speak on behalf of others you know fuck all about, thank you. Sell possessions? Are you taking the fucking piss? I think you are. By the way, my camera was bought over a period of time from a friend. So again, fuck off with your assumptions. You seem to have an impression that just because people go to a festival,then they all must fall into a certain class of society. God forbid anyone less well off than you going to a festival, middle/upper class only please! What an idiot.

You say, people are getting their money back. Where did you see that? Just because the guardian wrote it you believe it to be true?  Do you not find it odd that they presumably said it to the guardian yet they cannot and have not said it once in any of their tweets or Instagram posts? I do and and am highly sceptical.

As for musicians losing all their income. Not ALL, some but many are actually making more now, increased merch sales etc, during this situation than they were before!

If you're not bothered about a refund, many are and even if they didn't need to 'put food on the table' that is not the point. They are entitled to a refund even if they are millionaires, doesn't matter.

Have a good day.

 

[Primavera Sound 2020]

1 hour ago, puckno said:

It is true, you could (but can no longer), but it was an add on package that almost none of the festivals nor artists ever added to their insurance. To cover for all very unexpected and highly unlikely events, such as a pandemic, there are force majeure clauses in most contractual terms, with all parties. Including the one that you signed up for when buying the ticket.

Yes, it was an an add on package that they didn't take out. So who's at fault? Certainly not the consumer. I dropped my €800 digital camera last week and my house insurance covers it without excess to pay. You know why? Because I took out extras on my policy, rather than just the basic. It's how it works. 

So, given that they COULD have taken the extra, but didn't, is their fault, no one else's. I would have thought that protecting their festival as well as the ticket buying festival goers would be a top priority. Clearly not.

Primavera have tweeted again today, not about their customers but how great a band were in 2012. Their PR is an absolute disgrace and as far as I'm concerned, just another nail in their coffin.

 

[Primavera Sound 2020]

46 minutes ago, puckno said:

Insurances for the vast majority in this business do not cover pandemics

Not entirely true. You CAN take out insurance against pandemics, it's just more expensive, so many don't. 

Again, not the fault of the consumer if a company hasn't taken out the full insurance.

[Primavera Sound 2020]

12 hours ago, daveje said:

I'm not interpreting anything about the situation, it's what I'm told in emails. (Email just in today says: if you can't do the new date, you'll get a voucher, and if you really want to, you can get a refund when we can set something up, but please think about keeping the voucher or even donating some or all of the money to the venue, because basically we don't know what our future looks like and we might just run out of business, even though we're a 50 year old legendary rock venue.)

As for the 'legally entitled', you're 100% correct, in normal circumstances a straight refund would happen, and there wouldn't be any argument. But, as many people have repeatedly pointed out, the situation now is far from normal.

Anyone who keeps banging the 'automatically entitled to a refund' drum really needs to take a look at what's happening in the tourism industry right now. The tourist companies simply don't have the money to refund everyone, and they're issuing vouchers instead. Yes, it's against EU law. Yes, it's against all accepted consumer protection practice. But it's happening, and there's a massive fight between the airlines, travel companies, consumer organisations, national governments, and the EU. The legal system is completely non-functional at the moment so this can't be dealt with in the normal ways, and the result seems to be that national governments are pressuring the EU to just accept the situation. The only other option is to see these companies go out of business. For some of them it's going to happen anyway, but no-one wants to make the situation worse than necessary.

It's a shit situation, and if I have a point, it's this: if you put down any money on any activity that can be cancelled or changed or whatever because of coronavirus, it's now unrealistic to expect to get it all back. It's yet another hit that we have to take.

As for Primavera, their communication is shit, but it always is, so what's new. I don't think they're bad guys. I genuinely think they're wondering how they're going to survive. Just cancelling and giving everyone their money back might kill them. They're not a big US monopoly with shitloads of money.

What a load of old tosh. Virus or no virus, EVERY event, flight, whatever, sell tickets WITH the knowledge that something could or may happen which could result in that event not going ahead. That's why they take out insurance. That's what prices are what they are because they have to cover all their costs. If a company folds because of it, that's not the fault of the consumer. Many of these companies are also now being able to get help either from their bank, or government, which many have taken up. It's an absolute piss take that these companies, or festivals or venues are saying, please accept a voucher (which is useless if they go bust) or, please consider not taking anything back to save our venue? Why? What will that venue give to you if it survives? I'll tell you what, nothing! 

This pandemic has hit everyone and when people have hundreds, sometimes thousands of pounds being held by these companies who are not carrying out their contractual obligations, they should get a full refund. Where is that money? It's not like the festival or flight or gig has happened yet, so where's the money? Have they spent it before they've honoured their agreement? If so, whose fault is that? Certainly not the consumer? That's like spending the potential money you can win on a bet, before the bet comes in. Not a great way to run a business.

What this situation is clearly highlighting is how these companies really value their customers. Some have just come out and given straight up answers and refunds and others, like primavera, have used cryptic terminology to try and confuse matters further which, if anything, has made their festival, whenever it may be held,more vulnerable. 

A final note. It will interesting to see how Vida Festival react, which is due the first week of July, in Villanova, Barcelona. Not officially cancelled yet but surely just a matter of when, not if.

[Primavera Sound 2020]

1 hour ago, Chilly Toad said:

I think you misunderstand. The only problem most people here have is that they do not make a decision about refunds / carrying over tickets to 2021 or communicate it if they made it. And that is a legitimate complaint. I have bought three tickets. That is quite some money there. I consider myself to be a contractual partner of Primavera and I would like to be treated as such, not as a petitioner.

Primavera in 2021 will certainly not accept me going to all the concerts while telling them to wait until I will reveal options for my payment.

Exactly! All people want is a clear assurance that if for whatever reason ticket holders cannot attend the new dates, a full refund will be given. That's it, nothing else. The refund could be 3 months away it's about the ASSURANCE that there will be refunds. 

I'm sorry, but ANY festival that are working out the insurance small print to see if they have to give refunds or not, don't deserve to exist as a business, and this is what I feel they are doing. There shouldnt be any cryptic replies required, just a simple, yes you will be refunded, please bear with us. But they're not and this is what people are angry about and it's very understandable that, now people are seeing them for what they are, that they don't want the option of rolling into next year, or another month because they don't want to support them any more. This is basic consumer rights and I have to so that I'm surprised by the amount of support primavera are getting in this forum, given their behaviour. 

 

Have a good day.

[Primavera Sound 2020]

59 minutes ago, xxialac said:

I could hardly believe what I was reading. Anyone would think Primavera had burned down your house (as opposed to offering you a refund of your money in advance of the event and for a circumstance beyond their control).

But then I see:

"robin (sic) was fucking awful last year"

That really takes the prize!

You are clearly not bothered if you get a refund or not. Many people are, so you can keep ignoring the points I make, or just keep primaveras arse. Up to you.

There is ZERO reason, I repeat, ZERO why they cannot assure refunds to those that can't attend. This 'we have to wait for the state of alarm to be lifted before we can give further information' is actually bullshit. It does not exist, there is nothing in the state of alarm that says this and if you took 1 minute of your time to find this out, instead of believing everything primavera are telling you, then you would see why so many people are angry. Lots of festivals cancelled across Europe and 90% of them are offering refunds. So please, know what your actually talking about before you spout your crap. 

 

Have a good day.

[Primavera Sound 2020]

4 minutes ago, Martin_89 said:

...and gets 11 signatures on a petition for refund. lol

Just read The Guardian article above here and relax:

"Primavera initially wouldn’t comment beyond their official statement – “Until the state of alarm is over we won’t reactivate the ticket sales, nor are we allowed to give more information about the ticket policy”– but have now stated to the Guardian that they do intend to make refunds.

Organisers said they were “contemplating various solutions for this edition’s ticketholders, which will be announced after the state of alarm decreed by the Spanish government. One of these solutions, among others, will be the refund. We have never said that we wouldn’t offer them.” They said they were “waiting for the legal framework on this matter to be defined” across Spanish, Catalonian and European law before announcing details, adding: “We must be patient and wait for these new extraordinary measures to be fully defined. If we were to do so before, we would not be guaranteeing legal certainty either for our festival or for our ticketholders. We want to inform our buyers on the basis of certainties, not speculations.”"

Funny how they can tell the guardian that but not respond to customers or post this information on social media. You know why? Because they can say they didn't say that to the guardian, misquoted etc.

Obviously this forum is a primavera love fest and no matter what they say or how they behave, you will blindly follow their every word. Well I won't and I'm not bothered if the petition gets 11signatures or 11000000, the fact still remains that they are holding on to people's money, people who have clearly said they cannot (and in many cases never will again) attend the festival, and all people are asking is for primavera to be very clear and say, you will get a refund, but instead they cut and paste some bullshit, cryptic reply, before tweeting how great robin was last year (she wasn't, she was fucking awful)

I personally hope they go bust from this, because they have clearly shown how they value the 1000's of people who attend each year. No people. No festival, its as simple as that.

Have a good day.

[Primavera Sound 2020]

13 hours ago, xxialac said:

You have been bashing the festival endlessly everywhere you can including in the last hour below. Your "all bands to boycott Primavera" campaign to target 1000 signatures...got 11 signatures. 

You seem to have lost all perspective.

They just needed a little more time in the face of a global pandemic that threatens to ruin them. 

Can we have a little understanding around here? Do you think the poor person running their social media needed to see this all through the day?

Fuck  @Primavera_Sound  do NOT play that festival. Bunch of thieving bastards. Fuck em!

 

 

They announced the new August dates a month ago. That is easily enough time for them to sort refunds out or at least assure people they will get one. They should be using social media to keep people updated, not reminiscing about past festivals, giving links to past performances as if everything is ok. It's not, literally 1000's of people are asking about refunds and they are completely ignoring them. So, with respect, I don't care if they are sick of me tweeting them, they deserve it for the way they are behaving. If you want to defend their behaviour, fine, but i won't and myself, along with many,many other people want our money back.

 

Thank you, have a good day.

[Primavera Sound 2020]

53 minutes ago, LonesomeDrifter said:

 

 

[Primavera Sound 2020]

32 minutes ago, xxialac said:

Does anyone who is in Spain have a sense as to when the government are planning to re-open restaurants and cafes?

Tourism is a massive contributor to the economy. I worry for Spain and all the people who work in hospitality...

I'm in  Barcelona and while they have lifted some of the lockdown, it's only for those working in construction and Engineering. While the numbers of deaths and infections decrease, they are following the advice of the W.H.O and Spanish health experts. Barcelona politicians are FIRMLY against even these first relaxed measures and are urging the Spanish PM to not relax any more rules. The general consensus is that Spain, especially the major cities will not be allowed to have gatherings over people over a certain amount.

 

El Pais or Catalan News

These will keep you updated.

 

Thanks, have a good day.

[Primavera Sound 2020]

23 minutes ago, Ohjesus said:

I don’t think they were taking about you - there’s a guy in Bristol who goes to a gig every night, we were all just a little worried about him. 

My bad. Apologies.  I'll delete it. If i can

[Primavera Sound 2020]

4 hours ago, daveje said:

You can check out his twitter feed. He’s suffering from social isolation, which is what you would expect. 

My Twitter page is me taking the piss, glad to see irony is not lost on you. Of course I'm in isolation, like most of Spain is. Primavera will NOT go ahead in August, I can assure you.

 

Have a good day.

[Primavera Sound 2020]

1. No. Living in Barcelona doesn't give me any privileged position, my point was that I haven't paid for flights etc so although I want a refund, there are many people who have paid for flights etc who have paid a lot more than me, who also want refunds. 

2. Insurance does not mean, hey insurance people, now that my festival is insured does this mean we can keep customers money if we postpone or cancel? Insurance is there to protect AGAINST this, not to condone it.

3. L.A, Porto. I don't care. I also don't care about the 2021 line up, as I will never be going ever again. This is not difficult to grasp folks. People paid for tickets. They now can't attend and they want their money back. It really is that simple and primavera are refusing to do so. They announced the new dates on the 28th March! Just short of three weeks ago! I'm sorry, in that time 1000's of people have asked them about refund and they just copy/paste some bullshit answer about alternatives. Not. Good. Enough. 

4. If they are announcing new dates, then that means the have money to do so, which in turn means they have money to refund those who cannot attend. Imagine you lent someone £500 and you asked them for it back but they said they didn't have any money right now, but then you find out they'd just gone on holiday for two weeks or bought a new car or whatever, you'd be asking questions, right?  Well that's all I'm doing, they are planning new dates, which costs money yet they don't seem to have the money to refund? Errrrr, hang on...

People can defend primavera all they like, clearly some blind faith in them for whatever reason but I don't and reading between the lines of their ONE reply, it suggests to me they are trying to get out of refunding and my petition is to highlight that, as much as anything else.

Thank you.

[Primavera Sound 2020]

Hello again. For those of you are saying this petition is stupid, then clearly you have money to burn and a refund is not important to you. Fine. For what it's worth, I live in Barcelona and I can tell you now, this festival will not go ahead in August. Even primavera know this. So, insurance. The insurance. I'm a music booking agent so I have some knowledge of how these things work. The insurance company does not hold the money, primavera do, or dice, or Ticketmaster or whoever. If a festival or an event is changed, regardless of reason and it is therefore impossible for those with tickets to attend, a full refund must be given. Imagine you flying somewhere on holiday in July and the flight company say, sorry, flight cancelled bit we've put you on a flight in September, would you be happy with that? No of course not. I'll tell you the reason they are not offering refunds and that is because they are using that money to pay the none refundable advances that they give to bigger bands, who often get 50%, sometimes even more, in advance of them playing and most of the time, they don't have to give it back if the festival is cancelled or postponed. That is the REAL reason. So fine, if you don't want to sign the petition, don't but please have an understanding of what is really going on. As for not many people will sign. Again, that may be the case but I know quite a lot of bands and other agents, who I haven't contacted yet who would easily share this around for me. But that's not the point. I like primavera and if I could attend the new dates, I would but I can't as I'm due to be away on those new dates..please also bear in mind that Heineken, SEAT and other massive companies sponsor this festival and money is not in short supply. All I'm asking primavera to do is assure those who cannot attend, that they will get a refund. Doesn't have to be refunded now, just an assurance that it will be. That's the issue here, their wording is being very selective. The way they are behaving is like, oh keep your ticket for next year, as if the name primavera is enough for them to assume people go regardless of the line up. Well I don't, I go only when there's enough bands I like playing and I think it's value. They are acting disgracefully and their reputation is now in tatters because of the way they have handled this. Thank you.

 

 

 

[Primavera Sound 2020]

Hi. Many people, including myself are asking for refunds but primavera are refusing to give assurances on this. Please, if you could sign and share the petition, I would be most grateful. Thanks.

 

https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/boycott-primavera-sound?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=&quote_id=quote3&title_id=title2&recruiter=15462971&loc=view-petition