It seems the saga surrounding Victoria’s Maitreya Festival is one that simply won’t die and frankly, it has little reason to. Many ticket-holders are still out of pocket over the festival’s cancellation and awaiting refunds.
Some Maitreya fans have taken to the festival’s official Facebook page — which the bills the event as ‘Yourtreya’ — to claim that they’ve received their refund from TryBooking, the festival’s third-party ticketing provider.
Others, meanwhile, have organised a ‘support group’ for anyone still awaiting their Maitreya money. This not only includes ticket-holders, but allegedly those who paid $3,000 to host a stall at this year’s Maitreya event.
As Tone Deaf previously reported, Maitreya was cancelled after weeks of controversy that stemmed from a run-in with the local Buloke Shire Council, who claimed organisers failed to submit the necessary paperwork to receive an event permit.
After a failed appeal at VCAT, organisers decided to go ahead with the festival anyway at a secret location. However, in the wake of protests from Victoria Police, local Indigenous representatives, and Council, the event was cancelled at the eleventh hour.
Organisers blamed the cancellation of poor weather which had bogged the festival site, but Council later refuted this, claiming the event had become impossible to host after vendors and other stakeholders pulled out.
But what had punters most peeved was the fact that throughout all of the back-and-forth between the council and organisers, no one ever made any mention of refunds. And there hasn’t been a word from organisers since.
“We like many of you are now out of pocket over the cancellation of Maitreya Festival,” write the members of the somewhat verbosely named How To Get Your Money Back From Maitreya Support Group on their official Facebook page.
“We contacted TryBooking, the ticket outlet and have found out that the monies for the tickets went into the organiser’s bank account and not kept in the ticketing company’s holding account. The organiser we suspect has spent/kept all the money so will be unable to refund any ticket buyer.”
According to the TryBooking website, “Any potential refunds relating to events are handled solely by the Event Organiser who creates and manages the TryBooking event. The additional booking fee which may apply to ticket holders booking for paid events via the TryBooking website is not refundable.”
“It’s presently unclear just where the money from Maitreya ticket sales is being held.”TryBooking was also the ticketing provider for the controversial Rolling Thunder festival. At the time, the ticket outlet insisted that “Given the turbulent background to this festival… should this event not take place, that ticket funds are secure to refund patrons”.
However, when Tone Deaf repeatedly attempted to contact TryBooking to verify the Maitreya support group’s claims, they did not respond. It’s presently unclear just where the money from Maitreya ticket sales is being held.
Meanwhile, some on the support group page are claiming that it’s not just money from ticket sales that hasn’t been returned. “My partner paid $3,000 to have a food stall set up,” commenter Clay Edger wrote.
“After losing money at Falls Festival this was her last hope of the season to make some money back for all the hard work she’s put into the stall. I don’t want to see her cry over this anymore.”
According to the support group, dozens of disappointed Maitreya punters have registered complaints with Consumer Affairs Victoria, who are reportedly “in communication with the Victoria Police to ascertain if the actions of the organiser are considered fraudulent”.
It’s still radio silence from organisers and the members of the refund support group are concerned the company who put on Maitreya, MAMF Functions Pty Ltd, will declare insolvency and leave punters out of pocket.
“Should the event not proceed, punters are entitled to a refund. The odds of whether they get it or not, I don’t know,” Darren Sanicki of GI & Sanicki Lawyers previously told Tone Deaf.
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“I’m unsure as to the organisers’ situation in regards to where the money is… but if any punters are out of pocket, they’ll no doubt go after them.”
But if organisers aren’t forthcoming with refunds, as is seemingly the case, Darren says punters will be left with little comfort, even if they were successful in suing the organisers.
“You’ll have to sue them, you can report them to consumer affairs, you can take them to VCAT or the Magistrate’s Court, and probably one lawyer will put their hand up and represent all those who lost money in one hit,” said Darren.
“But unless these guys have got the money you’re unlikely to get it. This is more so the case if they don’t have insurance in place.” Tone Deaf will keep you updated with more details as they arrive.
