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ATP puts refund responsibility on Dash, Pitchfork clarifies Jabberwocky involvement

By | Published on Thursday 14 August 2014

Jabberwocky

So, 24 hours away from what would have been its scheduled start time, the fallout from ATP’s cancelled Jabberwocky festival continues.

As previously reported, independent promoter ATP announced on Tuesday that the two day event in London, due to begin tomorrow, would not go ahead, due to “healthy” but fatally low ticket sales. Those with tickets were told to seek refunds at the outlet from which they purchased them – and for many this will be lead ticketing partner Dash Tickets.

Dash was not impressed by this instruction however, putting out a statement of its own yesterday pointing out that its terms of sale say that responsibility for refunds lies with the promoter of the event. It also added that all money from sales had already been passed on to ATP.

Saying that it was considering legal action, the ticketing firm told ticket buyer in a statement on Tuesday: “Our trust in ATP seems to have been misplaced, as their emails to fans and customers today concerning refunds have become deliberately misleading. It is for this reason that we feel compelled to make it clear that Dash has given to ATP all funds that Dash received for ticket sales to Jabberwocky. In addition to giving ATP all the ticketing funds, Dash has made substantial advances to ATP which remain unpaid, as do considerable fees for the work we have undertaken on their behalf”.

The company later added: “To be clear about our service to ATP and yourselves, we have not been acting as a traditional ‘ticketing agent’, but have simply provided online software as a service exclusively to ATP in the UK. ATP has used our software to setup the Jabberwocky event and sell their tickets. This is why the T&Cs went to lengths to alert everyone that ATP holds the funds on all sales and that refunds can only be actioned through ATP”.

However, yesterday ATP again refuted that it had any responsibility for any refunds. In a new update to ticketholders yesterday, the promoter said: “For the vast majority of people, Dash Tickets will be their point of purchase. It is their responsibility to refund the customer, as they were the company that took payments; not ATP. And if Dash are not being helpful facilitating this matter, your next point of contact should be directly with your bank or card provider to order a chargeback of your purchase amount”.

There has also been further confusion over the involvement of other partners on the event. Jabberwocky was billed as being presented jointly by ATP, Pitchfork and Primavera. However, ATP’s original cancellation statement did not mention either of these partners, and both merely re-posted that announcement without reference to their own involvement either – Pitchfork as a news story and Primavera as an update on its website without context.

Although Pitchfork did not respond to direct requests for clarification on its role in organising the festival, it yesterday posted one on its website, stating: “Pitchfork worked alongside All Tomorrow’s Parties and Primavera Sound to curate Jabberwocky, helping to choose which artists would play. We did not have any financial involvement in the festival, in terms of either providing funding ourselves, managing how the money was spent, or receiving any portion of the event proceeds”.

It continued: “Apart from recommending artists, we were not involved with decision-making concerning the event. Our sales team did assist in trying to find sponsorship for the festival, but the sponsors that ultimately signed on didn’t come through Pitchfork’s channels”.

Representatives for Primavera also did not return requests for information, though it’s thought that its involvement in Jabberwocky was similarly more about prestige than financial backing.

In other news, since yesterday, yet more artists from the Jabberwocky line-up have found gigs at new venues. Full details on the rescheduled shows here.



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