Jabberwocky Festival Ticket Refund Money Gone? Retailer, Publicist, And Ticket Holders Outraged

Yesterday we reported that Jabberwocky Music Festival was cancelled at the last minute due to poor ticket sales. With the festival set to start just 72 hours after the announcement, both bands and festival-goers were surprised and outraged by the news.

As Consequence of Sound reports, festival organizers had said just one week prior that the festival was close to selling out, which added to the surprise of them later announcing that low ticket sales were the cause for cancellation. Heightening the frustration, however, is that ticket holders are having problems obtaining refunds for an alarming reason: neither the ticket retailer nor the festival organizers, All Tomorrows Parties (ATP), know where the money from ticket sales went.

ATP posted a statement to its Facebook page advising ticket holders to contact Dash Tickets for refunds. "It is their responsibility to refund the customer, as they were the company that took payments; not ATP," they wrote.

Dash, on the other hand, contends that ATP's statement is "deliberately misleading" and that they've already provided ATP with all the money from ticket sales.

"Our trust in ATP seems to have been misplaced, as their emails to fans and customers today concerning refunds have become deliberately misleading," Dash said in a statement to NME. "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."

They added that they, like ticket holders, are "very keen to learn where the money has gone!"

Dash isn't the only party that ATP allegedly owes. Their publicist The Zeitgeist Agency also claims to be owed for their services and are taking legal action to get it.

"Willwal Ltd (aka All Tomorrow's Parties) have failed to pay us for several months. We have tried hard to overcome this situation and find solutions, but Willwal's representatives have revealed to us in writing that they used the funds destined for us in order to protect payments for venue and artists, rather than settle essential and agreed amounts to our company. This situation has left our company with no alternative but to pursue Willwal Ltd by instituting legal proceedings on the 20th July to recover the substantial debt, to which Willwal Ltd have not responded. This is a course of action which as you can imagine, we have been very reluctant to take."

Time will tell what the real story is behind this sketchy situation, however, The Guardian notes that some industry experts expected it all along. They point to signs such as venue choice and re-booking, desperate attempts to sell tickets, and ATP's recent business history.

There is some good news, though. Many of the bands who were scheduled to play Jabberwocky are working to arrange alternative gigs. You can check out the list on the new "Jabberwocky Fall Out Party Rumors" Facebook page.