a big UK festi has been cancelled today..?

[thesecretingredientiscrime]

Eh? It was scorching hot for the Paul Simon set on the Sunday afternoon. We got burnt to a crisp watching him. It was rubbish, mind, but baking hot.

[Ed209]

Don't think Paul Simon did himself any great favours at Glasto. Admittedly it was cold and raining but we gave up in the end and went back up to our trailer tent to dry out and have a mug of cocoa.

[Mardy]

I really enjoyed Paul Simon at Glastonbury. Anyone expecting S & G'sp greatest hits would obviously be disapointed

[russycarps]

I really enjoyed Paul Simon at Glastonbury. Anyone expecting S & G'sp greatest hits would obviously be disapointed

[eFestivals]

but everyone was standing and dancing while he was on where we were

dancing?

I'm not sure that I've ever heard a more undanceable set.

[russycarps]

if he'd sung just one S & G song, you'd be screaming "just one lousy song is all we got"

if he'd sung a couple, you'd be screaming "just 2 lousy songs is all we got"

etc, etc

we had a picnic blanket

but everyone was standing and dancing while he was on where we were

[The Nal]

I wasn't feeling great at all for Paul Simon due to the previous few days exploits but I seem to remember most people just sitting around in the sun chatting while he played most of the new album and skimmed on the hits? Pretty dull gig.

[zahidf]

Bloc have gone into administration now.

Wou;dn't count on any refunds any time soon...

[eFestivals]

Bloc have gone into administration now.

Wou;dn't count on any refunds any time soon...

We've just been getting as much of the low-down around what's happened as we can. I'll avoid saying too much here, but they'll be an article online soonish.

But it appears that Bloc has done that out of shock and frustration and a complete disbelief of how they're being left to carry the can for something which was 100% outside of their control.

It currently looks like the legal system is going to be making a lot of money before someone is properly held to account for what happened.

[russycarps]

yeh I was just reading something similar. What a stitch up.

I wonder how much debt the company has?

ticket holders will be at the very bottom of the list of creditors. My guess is there is virtually no chance of anyone seeing any kind of a refund at all. Not even 1p in the pound.

[zahidf]

Just makes it harder for smaller festivals now: people slag off livenation, but you can get a guaranteed refund from them at least.

ATP will have an announcement soon on their status, but announcing gigs still, so a bit more stable hopefully

[eFestivals]

yeh I was just reading something similar. What a stitch up.

I wonder how much debt the company has?

ticket holders will be at the very bottom of the list of creditors. My guess is there is virtually no chance of anyone seeing any kind of a refund at all. Not even 1p in the pound.

yep, refunds sound unlikely at this time.

All that is entirely clear is that someone fucked up. Who? Who knows for certain? Not me.

But it is interesting that Crowdsurge (the ticketing company who also controlled the gate entry systems) while denying they have any responsibility for anything, say "CrowdSurge were advised to ‘shut down’ scanners at 21.27pm on Friday 6th July" - which seems an odd thing to do if everything was working as perfectly as they're trying to claim.

[Mardy]

seems to me to be a bit of a mess allround. As far as I can understand, Crowdsurge fucked up with the ticketing side of things, the Met. fucked up with what they instructed the organisers to do, Bloc fucked up with how they laid the site out and the stewarding (not sure if stewarding was them directly, but still), anyway, the real crime is that the punters have to carry the can.

[russycarps]

some interesting info in the comments at the bottom of this page:

http://www.factmag.com/2012/07/11/bloc-goes-into-administration/

[eFestivals]

seems to me to be a bit of a mess allround. As far as I can understand, Crowdsurge fucked up with the ticketing side of things, the Met. fucked up with what they instructed the organisers to do, Bloc fucked up with how they laid the site out and the stewarding (not sure if stewarding was them directly, but still), anyway, the real crime is that the punters have to carry the can.

some of that is outside of the facts, while other parts are laying too much blame with those who don't deserve any for what happened.

While some facts are still unclear, just one fact is at the heart of what happened - and that's what went on at the gate.

[dacbo]

Looks like refunds are going to be a long time coming.

Neil - interested to know if you have any knowledge of this, I'm requesting a chargeback through my credit card company which is standard practise if you buy something from a company who later go belly up. Problem is, that I assume my contract is with Crowdsurge who, as far as they are concerned, have fulfilled their obligations to supply me with a ticket. Question is, would they still be liable enough for me to get my money back. I guess I could request a partial chargeback minus the booking fees?

Any experience with things like this happening in the past?

[zahidf]

http://www.factmag.com/2012/07/11/bloc-goes-into-administration

Been updated with chargeback info. Maybe ask on the money saving expert forums as well?

[dacbo]

http://www.factmag.c...-administration

Been updated with chargeback info. Maybe ask on the money saving expert forums as well?

[eFestivals]

Looks like refunds are going to be a long time coming.

Neil - interested to know if you have any knowledge of this, I'm requesting a chargeback through my credit card company which is standard practise if you buy something from a company who later go belly up. Problem is, that I assume my contract is with Crowdsurge who, as far as they are concerned, have fulfilled their obligations to supply me with a ticket. Question is, would they still be liable enough for me to get my money back. I guess I could request a partial chargeback minus the booking fees?

Any experience with things like this happening in the past?

My understanding is that your transaction was with Bloc and not Crowdsurge. That's what Crowdsurge's statement seems to say.

[dacbo]

My understanding is that your transaction was with Bloc and not Crowdsurge. That's what Crowdsurge's statement seems to say.

[russycarps]

Looks like refunds are going to be a long time coming.

Neil - interested to know if you have any knowledge of this, I'm requesting a chargeback through my credit card company which is standard practise if you buy something from a company who later go belly up. Problem is, that I assume my contract is with Crowdsurge who, as far as they are concerned, have fulfilled their obligations to supply me with a ticket. Question is, would they still be liable enough for me to get my money back. I guess I could request a partial chargeback minus the booking fees?

Any experience with things like this happening in the past?

[zahidf]

http://www.thecmuwebsite.com/article/bloc-administration-what-might-it-mean-for-the-uk-live-sector/

Interesting article on the knock on effect on other festivals of Bloc debacle

[russycarps]

http://www.thecmuweb...uk-live-sector/

Interesting article on the knock on effect on other festivals of Bloc debacle

[5co77ie]

http://www.thecmuweb...uk-live-sector/

Interesting article on the knock on effect on other festivals of Bloc debacle

[thetime]

If a festival is cancelled who gets paid? Not thinking if bloc but more about the fair few that have been cancelled like sonisphere and the ones due to weather.

Landowners? Do bands get paid for being booked or only after performing? I heard pukkelpop lost around 75m euros when that got cancelled last year due to the storms.