A Vancouver resident who purchased tickets to an immersive cocktail evening says the company behind it cancelled the event twice and appears to have ghosted along with his money.
Peter Le Voi bought four tickets to a Hansel and Gretel-themed cocktail soiree that was supposed to happen in October 2023. He had friends visiting from out of town and figured it would be a good way to entertain his guests.
But the initial event was cancelled, and Le Voi said it was rescheduled for March 2024.
The Spring 2024 event was cancelled again, at which time he was told it would go ahead in June of 2024.
But as summer came and went, Le Voi realized he’d never heard when the event would go ahead. He decided to check online, but the event’s website was no longer active and its social media channels had gone dead.
“I want the events company held to account,” Le Voi said. “I don’t think they should profit from future events if this is how they behave.”
Le Voi paid $46 each for the tickets and learned when he tried to file a dispute with his bank that he only had a 100-day window from the date of the supposed event to start it. He’s glad he realized before he missed the October deadline.
Hidden Events, the company behind the Hansel and Gretel pop-up experience, now displays a message on its website that the site is under maintenance. Daily Hive has tried to reach out to employees of the company, but they either didn’t reply or their email accounts generated automatic bounce messages.
Neesha Hothi, director of marketing and communications with the Better Business Bureau serving Mainland BC, told Daily Hive that “fly-by-night” contractors who ghost clients are an unfortunate problem in the events and service space.
“People will come and say ‘hey, we’re going to do XYZ for you,’ take your deposit and ghost,” she said. “We’ve seen it in events where a company may struggle with actually executing the event. We’ve also seen it where people are taking advantage of emergency situations, let’s say floods or earthquakes.”
She characterized the practice as “really, really poor form.”
She advised consumers to do their research before purchasing something, especially if it’s online. Hothi usually Googles a company’s name alongside the words “fraud” or “scam.”
She also recommended consumers make purchases with credit cards since they typically have fraud protection. Payments made by gift card, e-transfer, or other payments such as Bitcoin don’t have the same protection.
“You should really be wary of unusual payment methods. At least with your credit card, if something goes wrong, you can reach out to your credit card company and ask for a chargeback.”
Consumer Protection BC has a portal for reporting problems with online purchases, as well as the Ticket Sales Act, which stipulates what a ticket sold in the province must include. The Better Business Bureau also hosts online business profiles of companies operating in the province where customer opinions from the last three years are shared. Customers can view the business’ letter-grade rating before proceeding.
“I definitely don’t want to fear-monger, but we do have scams,” Hothi said. “Online purchases make up a third of all the scam reports that the BBB receives.”