Kanye Quest: how the rapper's fans get paid for tickets

The situation with Kanye West's concerts in St. Petersburg, scheduled for October 10 and 11, has finally moved on: starting October 12, you can apply for a refund for tickets. After the official cancellation of the show, Say Agency explained the delay by the need to get back the prepayment transferred to the accounts of "various counterparties." Now fans can apply for payments, although the process itself is already accompanied by technical failures. Izvestia found out how everything works and what customers need to know.

What difficulties did the buyers face?

The opportunity to refund tickets appeared only by 11 o'clock, although the most desperate buyers were on duty on the InTickets website from midnight. By noon, the number of those who received the coveted letter about a successful application had increased significantly, although there were no fewer complaints about failures.

To start the procedure, the user must enter the order number and hope for luck. In the best case scenario, the confirmation code is sent by e-mail, and the client agrees to the "I refuse to refund the service fee" clause. The latter requirement has already caused a lot of discussion: The InTickets commission at the time of purchase was 10%, so in some cases it was an impressive amount. Some commentators are calling on others to unite and file a class action lawsuit.

The most serious difficulties were faced by those who placed an order through Yandex services, which is explained by recent accidents in the company's data centers. When trying to submit a request, the system issued a warning.: "The post office does not accept the code" and offered to restore the ticket by phone number. However, the function did not work for everyone.

As Oksana Yakubovskaya, one of the customers, told Izvestia, the problem was solved through an old letter about the successful purchase. A link to "ticket management" was available in it, although the page did not load immediately either. No additional confirmation via mail or phone was required, and Oksana was able to apply for compensation for the cost of four tickets totaling 23 thousand rubles. I decided not to fight for the refund of the service fee.

Alexandra Mishalchenko had the same problems: neither the mail nor the phone number helped to complete the registration. The Izvestia interlocutor found an alternative way in the comments of the Say Agency Telegram channel after she did not receive a response through the feedback form on the InTickets website. As a result, Alexandra was able to issue a refund for two tickets with a total cost of 50 thousand rubles, but confirmation of successful registration did not come. She has not yet decided to apply for compensation for the service fee, explaining her doubts with sympathy for Say Agency.

According to InTickets' template responses, users will receive a receipt confirming the refund in the mail within 3 to 5 days. At the same time, the service does not exclude that with a huge influx of applicants, the waiting time for a message can reach 30 days. The speed of payments depends on the specific bank. At the time of publication, none of the applicants had received the money.

Why Kanye West's concerts were canceled

Kanye West's performances in Russia were officially announced on August 17. Gazprom Arena was supposed to be the venue for the show. According to the organizers, over 100 thousand tickets were sold in the first two days, the cost of which ranged from 9 thousand to 160 thousand rubles. Just a week after the start of sales, Gazprom Arena refused to hold the event, as reported on social media. Say Agency learned about the incident from the media.

The main argument of the site was the lack of a signed contract: As Anna Subcheva, the head of Say Agency, later explained, the document should have been issued before August 27. According to her, a normal dialogue between the agency and the stadium has not taken place. A disappointing verdict on the show was released on the Say Agency Telegram channel on September 30. The publication was accompanied by a black-and-white photo of West with the caption "Never give up your dreams."

It took Say Agency two weeks to get back the prepayments transferred to the accounts of unnamed counterparties. According to Subcheva, they managed to return 95% of the funds, so all buyers can expect a refund of the full ticket price. At the same time, the InTickets operator warned in advance in an online newsletter that the service fee would not be refunded.

Despite the organizers' statements, no one has a 100% guarantee of compensation. According to Sergey Muradov, a representative of the Eventation concert agency, Say Agency will not be able to pay off the buyers, as they have already transferred a large sum to the artist as an advance payment. In an interview with Izvestia, the promoter stressed that West has every right not to refund the money, as the cancellation of the show was not his fault. Muradov suggested that we are talking about a fee of $ 3 million to $ 5 million, although the Russian media wrote about $ 20 million. Say Agency denied this amount.

Kanye West's fans started demanding money for tickets even before the official cancellation of the concerts. Not everyone was able to satisfy the demands, and Say Agency received many pre-trial claims and lawsuits. One of the buyers, who wished to remain anonymous, told Izvestia that the legal costs had almost reached "three times the ticket price." He also filed a claim. At the time of the preparation of the material, it was under consideration.

Even if InTickets promptly fixes the technical failures, and Say Agency publishes detailed refund instructions with answers to all questions that arise, the story of the failed concert is unlikely to end in the next month.