Ticket holders still awaiting refunds after cancelled Kelpies Live gigs
Weeks after cancelled concerts were due to take place at Falkirk’s Helix Park music fans have not yet received ticket refunds.
Customers who had bought tickets for some of the Kelpies Live gigs at the park, which were cancelled by promoters XFire Live, including JLS, The Fratellis and James Morrison say they have still not received their money back.
The Fratellis and James Morrison gigs, which were scheduled for the start of September, were cancelled due to a reported dispute between the artists and event promoters – with claims that the promoters were “unable to fulfill their commitments” to allow the musicians to perform.
At the time, promoters XFire Live, otherwise known as XfP, stated that ticket holders would be contacted directly to “discuss arrangements” regarding their tickets, however, many customers have said they have repeatedly tried to contact the company but have had no response.
Others have said they have successfully been able to receive refunds by creating a dispute with their bank or other payment methods such as PayPal.
Customers have taken to social media in recent days to state that they have not been contacted by the company about a refund.
One ticket holder for the James Morrison concert said she had repeatedly contacted the company looking to recoup her money.
She said: “I’ve requested a refund three times. Not even got the decency to reply.”
Another said she was still this week struggling to be refunded for the Fratellis gig on September 4.
She said: “My emails aren’t even getting sent now, they are bouncing back. I have applied for a refund four times now and nothing yet.”
In response to a message from one ticket holder on a Facebook group asking if others had heard anything about refunds, another customer stated: “I just came on here to ask the same thing.
"I’ve not heard anything since getting the email to apply for refund.”
The company is registered with Companies House as being based in Edinburgh, at an address on Hill Street in the city centre. Attempts to contact sole director Stewart Douglas at the address went unanswered.
However, a sign on the buzzer for the property shows a new management consultancy company, Ember Grove, which was incorporated with Companies House earlier this month, appears to be the current occupier of the suite.
Meanwhile, XfP has recently taken out a loan to cover unpaid debts from suppliers. A document filed with Companies House on 3 September shows that XfP recently took out a business loan with “non-bank lender” Bizcap for “security over all book debts” - ie to cover money owed to a company by its customers for goods, services, or work.
The lender, which says it offers loans to small and medium sized businesses, states on its site: “Bizcap is committed to saying ‘yes’ more often, offering business loans of £5K to £750K without up-front credit checks”.
A JLS concert, which had been due to take place at the Helix in June as part of the summer’s earlier Kelpies Live events was cancelled with no reason given. It came after the gig was moved from its original May date at St Johnstone FC’s McDiarmid Park in Perth to the Falkirk venue due to pitch upgrade works.
The Fratellis and James Morrison concerts were axed with just a few days notice in September.
An Instagram story on the official account of James Morrison said the show was cancelled "due to the promoter being unable to fulfil their commitments for James to perform." Meanwhile, The Fratellis also said the event promoters had “been unable to fulfil their commitments to the band to perform”.
Falkirk Council, which runs Helix Park, said it was not involved in any aspect of the contractual arrangements in respect to tickets and the concert itself – and said the responsibility lay with the promoters of the event.
XFire Live, The Fratellis and James Morrison have not responded to requests for comment.