Minevention Peterborough - Lots of Complaints - Anything We Could Do?

[MineventionComplaint]

Hi,

 

Apologies if this is in the wrong forum but wasn't sure where to post.

 

Recently I attended Minevention - an event advertised as a convention for Minecraft lovers. Unfortunately we left after 15 mins due to there literally being nothing in the arena.

 

It was a big event with about 4000 people showing up and there were some "popular" youtubers there. This was the only thing there really, plus a merchandise stall (which had counterfeit goods) and a sponsor stall and about 20 computers to play minecraft on.

 

I think really it was missold - many people said if they had stated it was a 'meet and greet', they would have never have went. It turns out though, that many companies who said they would be at the event, bailed last minute, leaving a very empty arena.

 

Lots of people have complained about the event and wanted refunds - quite a few people got them without question on the day, but many more (including myself) complained once we were home. Unfortunately the Organiser has since deleted all the negative feedback off their facebook page. They have finally responded to refund requests with offering tickets to their next convention, which most people are unhappy with - due to how poor the event was/travelling the distance to be let down again etc/feeling very ripped off. I personally wouldn't go to another one again.

 

I am not too concerned about the money for myself - it was a lot of money to spend 15 minutes in an arena, then to walk out with a disappointed child, but I think I am more concerned with HOW MANY people were upset about the event. Some people travelled a long way for the event (fortunately we lived close by), even booking hotels, taking children for their birthday's - only to go to an arena with semi-popular youtubers, a few computers and queues and queues for food.

 

I feel like something needs to be done for them (rather than myself). Some people have complained to BBC Watchdog but I am just wondering what could be done?

 

As a collective could anything be done?

 

Thank you for taking the time to read my post and I appreciate any suggestions/feedback.

[silverfox1961]

Hi and welcome to CAG

 

I feel you should be demanding a refund. Whether you get it is another matter.

 

Do you have a copy of the advert/flyer to relate to that shows what you should have got compared to what was actually there. Ideally, photographs from the venue may help.

 

Are Minevention a registered company. Do they have an address to write to? Too many questions. Few answers.

 

Time to go looking methinks!

[MineventionComplaint]

Thanks for the welcome

 

Yes there are lots of photos of how bare it was at the event and also a screenshot of how it was advertised, as well as the "flyer", in comparison to what you got.

 

They are registered under O'Brien Event Management Ltd, and the address is easy to obtain from their site.

 

Lots and lots of people emailed (including myself for a refund) and they replied with no we won't give refunds, but you can have tickets to our next event. They did give out refunds to those who asked at the event at the time, as opposed to coming home distraught first before asking.

 

I just feel really disappointed for all the families and children let down and was wondering if we could do something as a collective of people to prevent this type of thing happening again.

[silverfox1961]

OK, what I have found so far.

 

Minevention is run by O'Brien Event management and the director is:

 

Kenneth O'Brien

 

Registered address;

 

Killeen,

Ballyshrule,

Portumna,

Co. Galway

 

As this event was not as promised, there has been a statement from the company.

 

Firstly the Minevention team would like to thank everyone who attended our first UK event in Peterborough. We are truly genuinely sorry to hear our event did not meet a few people’s expectations.

 

MineVention is primarily a ‘Meet & Greet’ event and so this does mean queuing, but on the plus side it does give the kids the special chance to meet their heroes. We had invited 22 fantastic YouTubers, 8 FutureTubers and a number of extra YouTubers we were delighted to see come along.

 

Collectively, well over 55,000 signatures were given to their fans over 9 hours and thousands of photos too. With dedicated YouTubers flying from LA, Cincinnati, Australia, Spain, Scotland and N.Ireland.

 

We have taken all your comments regarding to the event on board and going forward we will be putting in a new queuing system and much more content.

 

We are delighted to announce due to all your efforts we set a new GUINNESS WORLD RECORD as ‘The Most People Dressed As Steve From Minecraft’. A total of 337 people! We understand the difficulties taking part caused a few families but unfortunately we had to adhere to GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS Terms & Conditions & Rules. Whilst every effort was made to comply with the regulations of the GUINNESS WORLD RECORD attempt, this resulted in the location of the count being moved to the indoor area and we tried to accommodate every child’s requirements during the process. We do understand that this may have caused some concern for parents, but the children’s safety was our main concern.’

 

2,200 people also took part in our gaming tournament with 600 people passing through the Razer bus and many more taking part in our scheduled presentations and Question & Answer sessions.

 

We do realise that going forward, more entertainment needs to be provided for this size of event and would also like to confirm that our exhibition stands only sell Official Merchandise bought from suppliers licensed by ‘Mojang’.

 

Peterborough Arena hold the responsibility of the food outlets on site, so after providing them with ticket sales numbers and the awareness that tickets were available on the day they have provided us with the following statement:

 

"Peterborough Arena, the host venue for MineVention also received some feedback regarding a shortage of catering outlets. Head of Hospitality, Paolo Bianchi said ‘Whilst Peterborough Arena is the host venue, we are not the organiser of the event. Having said that we are aware that our services to organisers are an important part of the event mix. The catering was planned in advance according to visitors estimates, provided by the organiser. However the sheer volume of people who wanted to attend the event on the day pushed the visitor significantly over the predicted forecast. At certain times of the day queues were inevitable because of this. We are currently assessing the impact this had on visitors, after which we will communicate personally with those who have been in direct contact with us."

 

 

 

I would also raise this with the Irish Advertising Standards Agency as well.

 

ps. The Minevention Peterborough web site is still up and running

[LoCro]

We had problems with this event at Dreamland in Margate on the 9th March 2019.

 

I spent £45 on online tickets for this event and £6 on parking. £51 altogether.

We were there about 3 minutes.  

We walked straight in to both the Minevention areas ,

nobody was checking wristbands,

people were just walking in and out, who had not paid.

 

I asked the man on the right of the door where to check in,

he pointed to a group of boys sitting on benches,

 

I went up to them with our tickets and they said we don't take your tickets, we are famous You Tubers, even though my Son did not have a clue who they were??

 

There was hardly anything in the room. J

ust a few little things for little kids.

 

We then went upstairs without being challenged for lack of wristbands and any computers up there were full with kids.

 

We then finally found someone to show our tickets to and said we wanted a refund,

and he quickly scanned our tickets and said he could not refund us as he had already scanned the tickets.

 

He then gave us wrist bands and said that you can't get in the Minevention areas without a wristband, even though we had walked in both just before without being challenged.  

 

Shocking customer service, it was an absolute shambles, with no organisation and poor customer service.

The lad on the right as you go in the entrance who scanned our ticket also said there was no space on the Fortnite bus, (which we could not even see), which my Son was looking forward to going on.

 

We feel like we were absolutely RIPPED off.  

£51 for 3 minutes and a disappointed kid. 

Asked for a refund and they have refused. 

Got the fob off reply below:

 

...""I’m sorry you didn’t get to experience MineVention to its fullest, however, we ran all elements of the event as advertised, which was the Fortnite Bus, Tournament Zone, Build Battle Competitions, Freeplay area, 3 hours of Main stage content, YouTuber Meet & Greets and Arts & Crafts, so from that point of view we are totally satisfied we have fulfilled our promises for the event. 

 

All Dreamland staff members were fully briefed on the event and its organisation, so if there was any miscommunication I can only apologise. Dreamland security were tasked with checking wristbands and did so at every occasion our staff checked in on them, so once again, if they didn’t check you when you went into the various rooms, that's disappointing and we will discuss with them on our post-event evaluation.

 

The Fortnite Bus took over an hour to fill its 200 slots for each session and the regular tannoy announcements in the concourse kept guests up to date.

 

With regards to your request for a refund, as we ran all advertised aspects of the event throughout the session, as per our terms and conditions of sale, we do not offer refunds on tickets purchased. 

Please note that we do take all feedback on board and will discuss for events going forward. 

 

Once again, thank you for getting in touch".....

 

___________________
WHAT A JOKE!!!
Their events are a total RIP OFF!!!

 

I see that other people have complained about their previous events, see links below.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-34232338

 

https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/topic/383571-minevention-peterborough-lots-of-complaints-anything-we-could-do/

 

I will be taking this further as I don’t appreciate being ripped off and my Son being disappointed!!

 

AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dx100uk]

go do a chargeback 

dx

 

[LoCro]

dx100uk Thank you for the advice, I have phoned my bank this morning.

Have a great day