Calling Festival, 28/06/14

Hi Garth,

Following our discussion yesterday afternoon during the ruined Joe Bonamassa set, I’m contacting you as suggested.

As you know, the major problem for me, and for a lot of other ‘punters' in the so-called VIP grandstand for which we all paid an extra £66 per head, was a clash of sound from the secondary stage tent behind us, and that from the main stage.

Some bright spark had decided to put Walking Papers (so I missed them, no contest with JB in my book) on in the secondary tent at exactly the same time as Joe Bonamassa was on the main stage, and as the back of the grandstand was nearer the tent than it was to the main arena, every time Joe’s music was less than 'full on', it was drowned out by the thumping bass from behind us. It was truly horrible, and completely ruined everyone's enjoyment of Joe’s set.

Changing seats as you suggested would have made no difference, for obvious reasons.

And what of this? At no point in the lead-up to the event was it made clear that there were to be two stages. I was actually looking forward to seeing Walking Papers for the first time. In the end I just heard them secondhand… while I was trying to listen to Joe Bonamassa. The irony is that if we hadn’t paid the premium, and had been down at the front on the grass, it probably wouldn’t have affected us sound-wise, but I’m still annoyed at the ‘fixture’ clash as well.

JB was fabulous as ever (when we could hear him), but during the ‘quiet' bits one couldn’t hear him at all. To be honest, the main stage volume was far too low throughout the whole event, even during Aerosmith’s set. Maybe Lambeth Council or the local ’nimbys' had something to do with that, but I was very disappointed.

Accordingly, I think the very least your company can do is offer a refund of our £132 seating premium, and set out clearly how you plan to obviate this problem in future. Failing this I for one will not be attending any future events staged by Live Nation, and I will vigorously discourage anyone else from doing so.

I’m fully aware that this problem wasn’t caused by you personally, but you did invite me to contact you direct.

Another problem: Initially, on arrival, my partner and I were shunted endlessly from gate to gate, no-one knew where our grandstand tickets were supposed to be for collection, even the ticket collection office which was the first logical port of call. In the end someone radioed the ‘management’ and a flustered woman eventually came to our aid. The whole process, however, took about 45 minutes of confusion, so we missed the first band completely. Not impressive.

These events aren’t cheap, people have to work a lot of hours to earn the cost. Your company should not treat the customers upon whom you depend with inconsideration – I’m trying to refrain from use of the word ‘contempt'.

I look forward to reading the company’s response in short order, and I also expect you will be hearing from quite a few other people in this regard. I attach copies of our tickets for your reference.

Kind regards,

Dear Stuart

I apologise for the delay, we have been out of the office for most of the last week on another site.

In light of your experience on the day I would be happy to offer you two complimentary seats on the VIP Nation grandstand for one of our Calling events next year, although obviously no acts or headliners have been announced yet. You would have to purchase standard festival tickets yourself and then contact me, and I would ensure we sent you two seats on the grandstand within two weeks of the event. If you are happy to accept this offer then I will keep this email as a record for when we speak again nearer the time; please let me know by reply.

Kind regards

Garth Heron | Broker & Customer Relations Manager | VIP Nation
Email: Garth.Heron@VIPNation.co.uk
Phone: 0207 009 3477 Mobile: 07970 508 024
Regent Arcade House 19-25 Argyll Street | London | W1F 7TS | United Kingdom

Actually, Garth, there is a much simpler answer.

Just credit my account with the £132, and you will hear no more of this.

Regards, Stuart

Dear Stuart

I cannot process a partial refund as the package was fulfilled on the day as it was advertised and sold. However your complaint regarding the sound from the second stage has been taken into consideration for next year, and it will be used to plan the site in terms of staging.

I would be happy to offer you two Premium Club upgrades in addition to the offer of Grandstand seats, once you purchased your own tickets to the Calling Festival next year? I would be happy to extend this offer to the Wireless Festival too, or another of our summer festivals.

Kind regards

Garth,

I’m becoming a little frustrated here. The event on June 28th was not ‘as advertised’. The sound was unacceptable, and someone - certainly not me - was responsible for this.

Whoever was in charge of the sound arrangements failed spectacularly in their task.

And as far as not being able to 'process a partial refund' is concerned, this statement is an irrelevance. My purchase of the site entrance tickets in March, and subsequent purchase of the seating upgrade in June, were two entirely separate transactions. I’m not asking for the basic ticket price back, just the ‘extra’ for the seats that ultimately spoiled everything. It would not be a 'partial refund'.

I think a little more creativity is required here on your part. As I previously stated, there is no indication of who or what will happen at whatsoever event your company stages next year, and I have no idea if I will feel the need to attend. The fact is, I paid a lot of money primarily to see Joe Bonamassa live, and this was not fulfilled in a satisfactory manner as per the ticket sale conditions. I think it is entirely reasonable to expect to be able to actually hear a live performance for which one has paid.

If I had bought a cd that didn’t work, I would rightfully expect a replacement or a refund.

Obviously, you can’t ‘replace' a live event. However, Joe Bonamassa is scheduled to play several nights at Hammersmith in March 2015 – a couple of good tickets for one of those nights would be acceptable compensation in the absence of a refund.

And to underline things, several press reviews of the overall event have dwelt upon poor sound quality (notably that in the ‘Telegraph’). I am certainly not the only dissatisfied customer.

I’m afraid, Garth, that a promise of more potential disappointment at even more cost next year is not really a satisfactory offer of compensation.

Regards,

Stuart