MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW)- We’ve received several messages from people waiting on money after the Carolina Country Music Fest.
According to posts on social media, the company has had problems getting people their refunds from money left on the wristbands.
When you walked in the gate at the festival, you entered with a wristband that was scanned. You then used that same wristband to load money to your account, and that was how you paid for things inside the festival.
Organizers promised that any money leftover would be refunded to you after the concert,
Trevor Gray says he’s been waiting for a refund of money left on his wristband for weeks.
“They said it would be immediately, but I got my refund three weeks later,” said Gray.
The Carolina Country Music Fest Facebook page is flooded with people asking for their money back.
“And it’s just been real frustrating, because it’s like, I mean I wasn’t in a bind it was just 32 dollars. But I would like to have it back immediately like they said it would be. It’s just kinda bad marketing to me,” said Gray.
During the festival, President of Full House Productions Bob Durkin told News 13 the wristbands were safe and convenient.
“The real reason we decided to go with this is because it really does help with the customer experience,” said Durkin.
News 13 called Durkin multiple times to find out what’s going on with the refunds. Durkin didn’t answer, but texted News 13’s Taylor Herlong that several people had received refunds.
We asked about those that had not and what would be done differently to prevent the problem next year, and at the time of this article, we hadn’t heard back.
We found this response on the festival’s Facebook page:“Refunds have been processed on our end. We heard from the ticket office that depending on who you bank with could determine how fast you get the refund.”
Gray says he still doesn’t understand why the wristband is the only method of payment.
“Maybe they just wanted to have a gimmicky way of keeping the money on the wristband. It was a novel idea, but it just didn’t really, I don’t think it panned out that well,” said Gray.
CCMF responded to one person on Facebook with this statement:“We feel “horrible” – thanks for hanging in there with us. We know it hasn’t been perfect and if we could have fixed it any faster, we sure would have. Refunds have processed and it could take up to five days to hit your account. We did see where a few folks posted they had received their refund already, so that is great! If you have any questions, give the ticket office an email at refunds@ccmf.com.”
The wristbands are from a third-party company called “Connect&Go”. News13 reached out to them multiple times to see what they had to say about the refunds, and at the time of this article, we hadn’t heard back.
Third party company, Connect&GO, located in Montreal, Quebec, responded to a CCMF attendee on Facebook questioning her refund by stating:“We’re sorry to hear about this frustrating situation. As you mentioned we are a third party technology provider for the wristbands at the event. For any updates or questions, please contact refunds@ccmf.com. Thank you.”
Many CCMF attendees are reporting they received less money from their refund than what they are due. To that, CCMF replied with the following message:
“If you want to check in with the ticket office and just make sure everything is on go for your refund, you can email them at refunds@ccmf.com.”