Express & Star comment: Music fans should get full refund
There are few more pleasurable experiences in life than live music.
Being part of a packed audience, watching your favourite band perform their best tracks, is the stuff that makes memories to cherish for years to come.
However, any regular gig goer of a certain age will attest to the fact that seeing music in a live environment is nowhere near as straightforward as it used to be.
These days a show can typically involve a scrap for tickets, long queues to get into the venue, and paying vastly inflated drink prices and way over-the-odds for band merchandise.
That’s if you weren’t left with no option but to cough up a small fortune for a ticket off a tout in the first place.
Against this backdrop, it is frankly disgraceful promoters of a cancelled Stereophonics show have refused to offer ticket holders a full refund.
The gig was due to take place at the Genting Arena on March 1 but was called off due to heavy snow.
However, instead of giving fans their money back, promoters have instead offered a discount off tickets to see the band perform at another show later this year.
Laughably, the offer – which ticket holders were given a total of four days to accept – is described as a ‘gesture of goodwill’.
Unsurprisingly, fans have been left frustrated. The prospect of having to pay for another ticket to see the band play at a festival that involves a round trip of several hours is unlikely to appeal to many.
We understand that promoters do not have an easy job, and they will have spent a considerable sum of money getting the Birmingham gig set up, regardless of its cancellation.
But this whole episode represents extremely poor form on their part.
Music fans should never be taken for granted in this way.
Without ticket sales from live gigs, many bands would be unable to continue to function.
People who attend shows and festivals are the lifeblood of the music industry.
We urge those responsible for the decision over the Stereophonics tickets to urgently revisit their handling of the matter.
Fans should be offered a refund – and an apology for the shabby way in which they have been treated.
