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ATP’s dispute with Dash continues, Paypal issuing refunds instead
By Andy Malt | Published on Monday 1 September 2014
ATP remains in dispute with Dash Tickets over responsibility for issuing refunds to Jabberwocky ticketholders. However, in its latest statement, the independent promoter says that payments processor Paypal is already reimbursing customers itself.
As previously reported, ATP cancelled its London-based Jabberwocky festival with just three days notice last month. An initial statement advised ticketholders to seek refunds from the company through which they made their purchase. For most, this was the event’s lead ticketing partner, Dash Tickets.
However, Dash then said that it was considering legal action against ATP, claiming that it had been a technology provider, rather than a traditional ticketing agent, and had already passed all income from ticket sales over to ATP. The company added that its terms and conditions put responsibility for refunds in the event of a cancellation on to the promoter.
But ATP subsequently denied that all funds from ticket sales had been handed over prior to the cancellation, and also accused Dash of changing its terms and conditions after tickets had gone on sale.
In an update to customers last week, ATP said that while other ticket sellers were issuing refunds directly, the ongoing dispute with Dash meant that this was still not the case for most people. However, it says, because Paypal was the sole payment processor on all sales through Dash’s platform, all customers can seek refunds through that company instead.
The statement says: “PayPal UK are reimbursing all customers irrespective of when the purchase was made, whether they have a PayPal account or checked out as a guest, whether they are a UK or international customer, and whether their purchase was on debit card, credit card, direct debit from a bank account linked to PayPal, or from an existing PayPal balance. PayPal will then take all these cases forward as a whole to Dash Tickets”.
Whether or not the ultimate responsibility for covering refunds will end with Dash Tickets remains to be seen. When ticket buyers are forced to seek refunds through a credit card company or payment processor, it is normal for that company to then try to reclaim that money from the company it had direct contact with – in this case Dash.
The status of Dash’s potential legal proceedings against ATP is currently unclear, as the company has issued no statement since 13 Aug and has not responded to requests for further information.
