Reading and Leeds festivals: Fans receive refunds after uproar

Italian band Måneskin announced earlier this month they were pulling out due to "scheduling conflicts"

Music fans angry at acts pulling out of Reading and Leeds festivals say they've received refunds, after initially being told they wouldn't.

Earlier this week, fans like Harriet Langsbury were told Ticketmaster was not issuing a refund, with no resale or transfer of tickets possible either.

But the 28-year-old has now received her money back for six £120 tickets.

It's after acts like Måneskin, Jack Harlow and Rage Against The Machine pulled out of the festivals.

Harriet wanted a refund as soon as Rage Against The Machine and Eurovision 2021 winners Måneskin pulled out and says she emailed Ticketmaster "straight away".

"It took them nearly a week to actually reply to me," she tells Radio 1 Newsbeat.

But after "some back and forth", Harriet found out they had sent her a refund.

Other fans have also said on social media they received refunds from Ticketmaster, with one person saying it was "worth persevering with them and telling them about others being refunded".

Initially, in tweets responding to people asking about refunds Ticketmaster said "changes to the line-up of a multi-performer event such as a festival don't make a booking eligible for a refund".

Some ticketholders say the company has since said refunds were being provide as "a gesture of goodwill".

Newsbeat has seen emails from Ticketmaster to Harriet in which the company writes about processing the refund.

But they have not responded to a request for comment on the issue of refunds.

Harriet (left) says Ticketmaster are "so hard to get hold off"

Daniel, from Durham, has also been having issues with Ticketmaster, but unlike Harriet, he has not received a refund - which he calls "really unfair".

The 30-year-old has two tickets worth £260 each, which he did consider selling but he was not getting the sale price for them, meaning he'd lose money.

He says he was told by Ticketmaster they would offer a refund, but was then sent another email - seen by Newsbeat - saying he would not be getting a refund because he bought the tickets through a payment plan.

"I tried to press them more, asking questions about it. And they've now just stopped responding to me," he says.

"They have not done their part in terms of the event and actually providing customer service to deal with these problems. So it's just really frustrating overall."

• Fans angry as more acts pull out of Reading and Leeds

• The 1975 replace Rage at Reading and Leeds

• Festival-goers demand refunds over Rage change

Harriet, though, is now satisfied having received her money.

"The issue is that we've had problems with them before. They're so hard to get hold of, they have these generic responses. It's unfair," she says.

Leeds and Reading organisers said they were "saddened to hear that Jack Harlow and Måneskin have decided to perform at an award show the same weekend they were confirmed to play Reading and Leeds".

The 1975 were previously announced as replacements for Rage Against The Machine.

And on Thursday, festival bosses said Charli XCX and AJ Tracey were replacing Måneskin and Jack Harlow on the line-up.

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