In an alternate universe, I would be rocking out right now, up at the Edenvale Airport, instead of sitting in my dining room hammering out this post. My ticket money has been completing refunded as of Wednesday (thank you, EventBrite!) so I am not out any $$$ because of Roxobust, unlike many others who spent thousands on airline tickets and hotels, yet…
Here is a list of concerts I took a pass on because of blowing the entertainment budget on Roxodus: The Killers, Muse, Florence & The Machine, The Black Keys, Arkells, Cheap Trick (who played last month in a wonderful venue close to me BUT WHY WOULD I GO SINCE I WOULD SEE THEM SOON AT ROXODUS…ARGH).
Looking at the bright side (or is it more the Sour Grapes Department? No matter): I wasn’t looking forward to seeing Kid Rock – probably would have left early that particular night. Also on the bright side: I hadn’t transferred any money electronically for food, drink and other festival purchases onto my “bracelet” for Roxodus’s cashless system, despite their urging concertgoers to do so right up to “the end”.
I am so impressed by those that stood up for the cheated fans. Particularly EventBrite, who stepped in to refund money to everyone who bought tickets. They did not have to do this. They were not obligated to do this. Yet they did the right thing for the music fans while Roxodus promoters did…uh, nothing. Nothing except make lame excuses and blame each other for the fiasco.
Huh…what happened to the “festival grounds too wet” excuse? Seems to have melted away as quickly as a morning frost in May...
Shout out also to other music festivals, who stepped up to offer free tickets to Roxodus ticket holders – you guys rock! So far Slamfest (in Kitchener last weekend) and WTFest (in Brantford later in July) have offered good numbers of free passes to those burned by Roxodus. I passed on Slamfest and already have a ticket to WTFest. I won’t be taking advantage of these offers…I have my money back so I prefer to let someone else have the chance to one of the free tickets.
I’ll still be up in the vicinity of Roxodus this weekend – CJ invited me to come up anyways, and hang out at her place at the Beach. So that’s where I’ll be heading after work tomorrow. And I’m delighted to do so.
I’m also delighted to see the shit raining down on the Roxodus promoters as the days go on. Bring. It. On. Yes, I am that type of person – call me The Widow Schadenfreude Badass. Not only is the OPP (Ontario Provincial Police) conducting an investigation, and EventBrite promising to aggressively pursue Roxodus for $$$…now the local conservation authority is investigating these guys for clearing hectares of trees off of the Roxodus property without the proper permits and approvals.
It’s kinda entertaining, to watch and read about all the blame-gaming and finger-pointing and mounting legal issues resulting from the collapse of this event. Not 4-days-worth-of-music-festival-entertaining…but one must take amusement where one can find it, in this ridiculous affair.
Perhaps this will result in a business school case study one day. Or a documentary. In the meantime, I am still mightily bummed and finding it hard to…
Rock on,
The WSB
I’m so glad everyone is getting their money back! Kudos to EventBrite. 👍 And, at least you’ll still have a nice visit with your friend. I’d be bummed out to miss all those fabulous concerts, too, had I purchased tickets. Awaiting further news about charges being laid against the promoters! Any bets they’ll file for bankruptcy protection? 😛
I won’t take that bet, as I think you’re right on the money Debbie! Thanks 💕
Dear TWSB, Ironically the tickets I got scammed on were for Trevor Noah who joked quite a bit about Schadenfreude! Still waiting on my remedy for that. Meanwhile, glad you got your money back.
Thanks Tracey 💕
Great to hear that Eventbrite came through. Sounds like the organisers are neck deep in it now with so many coming after them (I imagine Eventbrite have a pretty good legal team). Have a lovely visit with your friend. Might not be the weekend you planned but I hope it makes up for it.
Thank you AJ!
So glad you got your money back! But what a stressful thing to go through! But I’m sure there are others who didn’t fare as well as you did. Have a good weekend!!!!!
Thanks Jean! You’re right, some people are still out thousands of dollars for hotels, airfare etc. What a crying shame…
Hooray – I’m so glad that you got all of your money back, Deb. EventBrite clearly does rock….and so does Karma!! 🙂
Thanks Donna! The karmic wheel does appear to be turning, and the story is far from over yet.
I’m glad you were made whole. I feel so sorry for those who laid out cash for things that won’t be reimbursed. Like Donna said, I sure hope that Karma will get those creeps.
Thank you Janis! These promoters clearly did not know what they were doing and were in over their heads. Usually I would feel sorry for them, but the way they handled the collapse of the festival – lying, and leaving the ticket holders and vendors to hang out to dry – was inexcusable. I hope some legislation or regulating of these events results from this fiasco, that protects the consumer and businesses investing in these festivals.
Such a relief to know that you have been reimbursed. And I totally get the schadenfreude thing. I’d do the same.
So many people were burned, inconvenienced, exploited… What struck me the most about the fiasco is that trees were removed for nothing – somehow, that a forest was devastated… that makes me really, really sad. Innocent bystanders, so to speak.
And look at all of the resources being spent on investigations and seeking justice – ya can’t get blood from a stone… yet these organizers need to pay the price. Perhaps incarceration might do the trick?
You can’t get blood from a stone, correct Maggie! But you can make an example of that stone, so other stones are forewarned not to try and pull this shit too 😤
I have to admit that this entire fiasco would likely not have registered on my radar if it hadn’t affected you personally. Eventbrite has certainly proved itself to be a class act out of all of this. I hadn’t heard about the tree massacre though and like Maggie, that makes me really sad.
Glad to hear you’ve been restored whole out of this and I hope your weekend is still full of many bright spots!!
Thank you Joanne! 💕
You make a good point about how this whole mess needs to become a business school model of how not to do things. Say what you will about social media, at times it can be a force for good.
Agreed! Provides a voice to those who would otherwise have none. Thanks Ally!
Good to hear that you were refunded your out of pocket costs! Hope you manage to have a wonderful visit with your friend.
Thank you Lynn💕
Glad you got your money back Deb and so you should.
Leslie
Thank you Leslie 💕
🙂
Well, Deb, no Rockin’ On for you at this particular event. Bummer, but glad you were not out any money in the end. Eventbrite is now on my list of “do business with this group” of entities. And I love the Karma part…keep us posted as to any “karmic” events…would love to hear more about what comes the concert promoters’ way.
And they took trees? Really? For what reason and who approved that bone-headed move?
Hi Nancy, they cleared some of the land (without proper permissions) to make room for all the vendors, trailers, campers etc., associated with a festival of this magnitude.
Hi Deb, Thanks for sharing about the tickets and the money. You likely have helped others in this situation. Nice to see how all the good surfaces and restores faith in humanity. Clearing the trees is huge and a mistake that cannot be remedied:(
Thank you Erica 💕
It’s nice to hear Karma works both ways – you got some good Karma from EventBrite and there is some bad Karma happening to the perpetrators. Sorry you missed the one concert, but there’s probably a reason for it longer term. My mom always told me things happen for a reason… we might not understand it in the moment, or sometimes ever I think, but they do happen for a reason. Pretty interesting persepctive about the Universe from my very Catholic mum, huh?
Thanks Pat! My mom used to say the same thing, and now I’m saying it to my kids 😆. After seeing the site this weekend (oh yes, I went there and snapped a pic for my Instagram account 😜) and the solitary tiny road leading in and out of it, it’s probably for the best that it didn’t happen. The traffic would have been horrendous.
Lucky you. Changed my mind about EventBrite. Based on no evidence I was blaming them for a fake charge on my credit card (EventBrite was the last site I had visited). But if they are willing to do refunds, they are probably not stealing credit card numbers…
Probably not Kieran
Even though the folks at Roxodus are a bunch of ‘f’ers, I would have almost paid them for that wonderful picture of you on IG 😍. Looks like you kept your humor about you in spite of the BS.
SHE. GETS. ME. Thanks Lisa! That was indeed my attempt to be funny 😆