Comic Con organizer sued for failing to issue refunds
NORRISTOWN » A conventions company and its owner allegedly violated consumer protection law when they canceled the Great Philadelphia Comic Con at an expo center in Upper Providence and failed to issue refunds, the state’s top law enforcement officer maintained in a lawsuit filed in Montgomery County Court.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced this week that he filed a civil complaint against Great Conventions LLC, a company based in
Easton, Northampton County, and its owner, Christopher Wertz.
Wertz and Great Conventions organized The Great Philadelphia Comic Con to be held at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, from April 3 to April 5 of 2020, according to Shapiro. After repeatedly rescheduling the event due to COVID-19 restrictions, the defendants effectively canceled the event in March 2021.
Since then, Great Conventions LLC and Wertz have ignored multiple requests from ticket holders for refunds and made no effort to either reschedule the convention or give consumers their money back, state authorities alleged in a news release announcing the suit.
“COVID-related cancellations can’t be an excuse for businesses to just walk away with consumers’ money,” Shapiro said. “I’ve been clear since the beginning of the pandemic — that sort of thing is just not acceptable. By filing this suit, we’re protecting consumers by ensuring they are not victims of a different kind of con.”
The 15-page lawsuit requests that a judge order the defendants to pay restitution to all people who have suf
“COVID-related cancellations can’t be an excuse for businesses to just walk away with consumers’ money. I’ve been clear since the beginning of the pandemic — that sort of thing is just not acceptable. By filing this suit, we’re protecting consumers by ensuring they are not victims of a different kind of con.”
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro
fered losses as a result of the defendants’ alleged conduct and be permanently enjoined from operating and/ or selling tickets to conventions or other public events in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The lawsuit also seeks to have the defendants pay civil penalties of $1,000 for each violation of the Consumer Protection Law and $3,000 for each violation involving a consumer 60 or older.
According to the suit, the Comic Con was planned to be a three-day event where attendees could meet TV and movie celebrities, attend panel discussions and workshops and participate in character costume contests. The defendants sold tickets to the event on their website, according to the suit.
“Defendants sold various levels of tickets to the event, ranging in price from $30 to $225. Consumers purchased tickets to the event online and paid for the tickets via credit cards,” the suit said.
On March 13, 2020, the defendants announced to the public on social media that the April event would be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and government restrictions on large gatherings. In the announcement, the defendants stated the event would be rescheduled for September 2020, according to the suit.
But in July 2020, the defendants announced that due to continued health and safety concerns the September event would be rescheduled for April 2021, according to the suit.
However, on March 25, 2021, the defendants announced via social media that the Comic Con event would not be held in April and that they “intend to schedule the show as soon as it is reasonably safe to do so,” according to the suit. The defendants further stated that “at this time we are not in a position to be able to offer refunds for tickets or tables,” the suit alleged.
As of Sept. 30, the suit alleged, the Great Philadelphia Comic Con website still showed an April 2021 event date and that “defendants currently have no dates scheduled for holding the Comic Con event.”
“Defendants have failed to respond to communications from multiple consumers seeking refunds for tickets purchased to the Comic Con,” the suit alleged. “Defendants have failed to issue refunds for Comic Con tickets to consumers who demanded them. Defendants are wrongfully holding funds from consumers’ ticket purchases without providing the Comic Con event that consumers paid to attend.”
Neither Wertz nor his company could be reached for comment about the suit.
Consumers who feel they were victimized by the Great Philadelphia Comic Con are encouraged to file a complaint at www.attorneygeneral.gov/submit-a-complaint or contact the Bureau of Consumer Protection at 800-441-2555 or scams@attorneygeneral.gov.
The lawsuit was filed by Deputy Attorney General Debra D. Warring.