‘Fingers crossed we get money back’
Couple finally win eleven month fight for a show refund
A COUPLE look set to finally receive a £67.45 Victoria Hall refund – 11 months after coronavirus cancelled their show.
Ken and Janet Walshaw had received tickets to see The Greatest Hits of Motown as a Christmas gift from their daughter in South Wales.
But the March 21 show was cancelled last year due to the pandemic – and the Newcastle couple have been trying to get a refund ever since.
Now the money should finally be on its way after The Sentinel intervened.
Ken, aged 70, said: “The show was cancelled because we were in lockdown. We were looking forward to going and were disappointed with it being a present that we couldn’t take advantage of.
“My wife has tried to contact them by phone on numerous occasions. You hang on for anything between 40 minutes to over an hour. Sometimes you put the phone down because you hang on for too long.
“My wife has spoken to a person twice and it always seems to be some excuse that they have got to speak to our daughter who really hasn’t got the time.
“On one occasion they said that because my name was on the tickets they would not refund my daughter but she paid for them so it’s ridiculous.
“It’s our daughter’s hard-earned money and we want her to have it back. Nobody seemed to be interested in any shape or form or even suggesting a way forward with this problem.”
Ken added: “We support the local theatres and it’s not good for them that people are having these issues.
“I know all the shows have been cancelled. I’ve been in customer service for 40-odd years and for me the customer’s king and always has been. In my opinion, their customer service has been nonexistent.
“At the very least we need a refund and an apology.”
Current coronavirus rules mean The Regent Theatre and the Victoria Hall have been closed since mid-march, 2020. It is hoped they could reopen from May 17 this year.
Ambassador Theatre Group runs the two venues.
A spokesman said: “I’m afraid GDPR means we are unable to discuss individual bookings with anyone other than the customer. However, we can confirm that all customers with bookings up to 3 April, 2021 have been contacted by email regarding their tickets.”
Ken has received an email from the company following The Sentinel’s intervention.
He added: “They have contacted us and asked if we would like to transfer the tickets to another show or apply for a full refund and we are going to do that. Fingers crossed we will get our money back now.”
Tickets for this year’s show on Friday, June 4 are available at www.atgtickets.com/shows/thegreatest-hits-of-motown-how-sweetit-is/victoria-hall