Homegrown’s fine print on refunds

As the country remains in lockdown for at least a month due to coronavirus, public events have been cancelled or postponed.

The World of Wearable Art organisers recently made an announcement that this year’s show would not be going ahead. Pop culture and cosplay exhibition Armageddon, beer festival Beervana and a concert by rapper Stormzy have all been postponed.

Wellington festival Homegrown had also been postponed to March 2021 – and while some people were happy to hold onto their tickets or resell them on a website the festival uses, not everyone was pleased about being unable to get a refund.

On its website, Homegrown made it clear that people could not receive a refund in an ‘‘event beyond their control’’.

In its terms and conditions, it said ‘‘Homegrown Events Limited is not liable to you if there is an event beyond their control, including but not limited to riot, terrorism, epidemic, war or industrial dispute (but excluding any natural event or disaster) which results in Jim Beam Homegrown 2020 being cancelled’’.

But on a Facebook post by Homegrown, one person left a comment asking the organisers to give people their money back. Another person said they had received refunds for their flights and hotel and did not understand why Homegrown could not do the same.

Her husband could no longer work and they needed the money more than ever, she said in a comment.

Homegrown organiser Andrew Tuck said not having the festival go ahead as planned was gut-wrenching.

People who could no longer go to the festival could resell their ticket on tixel, a ticket resale website which Homegrown has used for the past few years.

Despite this, Consumer NZ has remained strong in its stance that if an event has been postponed or not able to be postponed, promoters should be offering refunds.