Herts Fest customers question refund status after cancelled event

The first-ever Herts Fest event was meant to take place at Herts County Showground in St Albans on August 15.

Musicians including Ali Campbell and Astro were meant to star at the local event, until it was cancelled just ten days before on August 5.

Originally organisers failed to tell ticket purchasers why the event was cancelled, however after being pressed by the public, Herts Fest later explained that it was due to “Covid staffing levels” and a number of “important staff” having to self-isolate.

The event has been rescheduled to an unspecified date in 2022, and the organisers said to “bear with” them regarding refunds.

Nearly two months later, ticket purchasers have been left wondering whether they will ever get their money back, after Herts Fest blocked comments on the majority of their social media page, provided no further updates, and have reportedly failed to respond to the hundreds of requests questioning the status of refunds.

However, Herts Fest hopes to assure customers that they still exist and claim they are doing everything in their power to resolve the situation and refunds amid a "legal" matter.

It was due to take place at Herts County Showground, St Albans (Photo: Street View)

Concerns about refunds were worsened when Companies House showed near the end of August that an application was put forward to strike the company off the register.

The Registrar of Companies has then confirmed in September that the company will be struck off the register and dissolved “not less than two months” of September 7.

In a statement issued to the Observer, Herts Fest said: "We understand people must be frustrated and we are sorry that we have not been able to respond to everyone individually or respond on social media due to legal matters.

"This is a stressful time for us aswell as the people that have purchased tickets.

"The event was 100 per cent scheduled to go ahead, we were advertising on Heart FM, we had promotional banners on the sides of buses around the Hertfordshire area and we also advertised in local magazines."

The Observer understands that there are "legal" issues, which we cannot report on for now, delaying potential refunds and updates to the event.

It is understood that very few people who purchased the ticket with a credit card were able to push for a refund through the credit card company.

Tickets sold for roughly £60.

Sophie from Hemel Hempstead, who did not wish to share her full name, said she first became aware of the festival through Facebook.

She said: “I’m pretty sure that we won’t get it back, me and my partner bought tickets but we didn’t get it with a credit card, so we’re not protected under the same legislation as people with credit cards are.

“Acts were legitimately booked for it."

Sophie continued: “It was really immoral that they have not even updated people, considering how much money it looks like they probably owe.”

She explains that the couple did make a statutory demand through the Government website for payment of a debt from the company.

After numerous attempts in trying to contact Herts Fest organisers, Sophie said: “They don’t respond to anything at all, that’s messages through their website and posts through their social media.”

In a Herts Fest Facebook post where the public are able to comment, there is a thread of many people demanding refunds and questioning why organisers are not responding to them.

According to Companies House, one of the three directors listed under Herts Fest is also a director of another Hertfordshire-based festival called House and Classics, which did hold an event this year.

Apologising to customers, Herts Fest said: "We put our heart and soul into this but unfortunately due to the unique pandemic, we were not able to go ahead.

"We are doing everything in our power to keep the event alive and for it to go ahead next summer.

"We are yet to confirm a date again due to legal reasons, but as soon as this has been resolved, we will be putting the new date out along with all the key information."