Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/25/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I purchased tickets for reserved seats to see a show at the Washington County Fair. We were unable to use the seats due to issues at the venue which security failed to control. We requested a refund for the portion of the tickets which were specifically for ***********, $40.00. We did not request a refund for the portion of the ticket which was the admission to the fair, $20.00. We were refused a refund. Please see the attached e-mail string with the initial e-mail at the bottom of the string. This clearly explains the difficulties that we had at ***********.Thank you,*************************

  Business Response

  Date: 08/30/2022

  Our refund policy is printed on every ticket purchased and is stated in full here:

  "Washington County Fair (WI) is the only official, authorized sellers of any and all concert tickets for the entertainment at the Washington County Fair, July *****, 2023.  If you purchase a ticket from a ticket broker or any third party, Washington County Fair makes no guarantees that the ticket is valid and reserves the right to confiscate the ticket and deny admission to the event. It is the policy of Washington County Fair that ticket re-sale is prohibited.  We do not ***** any refunds or exchanges on concert ticket purchases.  In the event of a concert cancellation, we will offer a full refund.  General admission Fair passes are non-refundable regardless of circumstances."

  I did explain that we have a strict no refund policy outside of a band cancellation or another force majeure event. They did attend the show and use the reserved seating tickets purchased, therefore we are unable to issue a refund for the seats.
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/01/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  We were aware of the refund policy prior to purchasing the tickets and had no problem with this policy, however the venue has an obligation to provide an environment in which our seats could be used.  They made no effort to assist in this even after we spoke to security.  The ONLY way we could have seen *********** from the seating area where our seats were would have to stand on flimsy plastic chairs which would have been unsafe for us.  We were prepared to stand at our seats to see, but did not expect to have to stand ON the seats.  We moved to vacant seats several times during the initial act but were never able to find an area which was not blocked due to fans standing on the seats.  When the main event started, the entire front of the venue in front of our seats behind a chain link fence was filled by people with and without reserved seats in this area.  The whole area was so packed, it would have been a safety issue had there been any type of emergency.

  We left the venue within 15 minutes of the main act starting as we were not able to see without standing on seats and were uncomfortable with the size of the crowd gathering and filling aisles and traffic patterns in front of us.  We went directly to the front desk and asked who we could speak with about the conditions of the venue and how to request a refund.  We asked the ticket seller at the front desk to document our request so it should be clear to the venue that while we entered the venue, we did not stay for the main event due to conditions in the venue.  The main event is the advertised event for which we purchased the tickets.  We were told to call the main office after the weekend as there would not be anybody to assist us until after the fair's completion.

  I totally agree that we should not receive a refund if we had decided not to attend for any reason.  However, we went to ***********, expecting to be able to use the tickets we were sold and were not able to.  I believe the venue has a responsibility beyond selling the tickets.  They are also obligated to provide an environment which is safe and enables *********** goer to utilize the ticket that has been sold.  I don't believe the venue has a right to say that no refunds will be given when they fail to meet even the most basic expectations of ticket purchasers to be able to use the product sold.
  
  Regards,
  
  *************************