Demands for refund after 'shambolic' Oktoberfest event on Anglesey

Hundreds of people are calling for refunds after what has been described as an "absolute disaster" Oktoberfest event in Anglesey.

The beer festival took place last Saturday 8 October at the Anglesey Show Ground. Organisers have now issued a statement following reports of a range of problems, including long wait times for festival-goers.

Oktoberfest UK have said they will be "taking forward some important lessons" from the event, but many have been left out of pocket.

A Facebook page called 'Oktoberfest Mon Survivors' has now been set up, calling for organisers to provide refunds to those let down by the event, for which around 3,000 tickets were sold.

Many of the group's members have shared their experience on Facebook, with some saying they bought VIP tickets with table service, which didn't materialise. Others have said they "spent hundreds" on group tickets, but the long queues led them to abandon the event altogether.

Despite acknowledging the event "did not start without its problems," organisers are yet to discuss their refund policy.

Rhun ap Iorwerth, Member of the Senedd for Ynys Môn has said: “I’ve spoken to a number of people who went to the event and who described it as shambolic.

"They had paid good money and felt let down by the organisers who were clearly unable to cope with the scale of their own event.

"Whilst some who stayed until later say they enjoyed the evening, those who felt they had no choice but to leave early should have been able to receive a refund.

"So many people had been looking forward to this event and were bitterly disappointed. Perhaps the answer, as one constituent has suggested, would be to organise our own event celebrating brilliant Welsh beer on St David’s Day!”

Several of those who attended say they have contacted the organisers directly, but have "heard nothing back." Some say they they have resorted to contacting their banks and trading standards.

Anglesey Council's trading standards department says it is aware of concerns raised about the event but had received "very few complaints." A council spokesperson has urged people seeking free and impartial consumer support to contact Citizens Advice.

Katie Cannell from Llanberis, who attended the event, said: "It wasn't even safe for people when they were leaving, there was no transport and people couldn't get taxis so they were walking down the road, which had no lighting and it was very dangerous, there were no support staff to help at all."

Katie said she tried to get a refund but was told she should contact the ticket seller. However, when she contacted Skiddle they informed her that the responsibility for refunds was in the hands of the organisers.

A Skiddle spokesperson has said: "Skiddle is a self-service platform, where event organisers can list and sell tickets for their event thus providing a booking service to event goers.

"Event organisers are only required to provide refunds in the event of a cancellation or the postponement of an event and Skiddle is only authorised to issue refunds on this basis.

"Requests outside of this remit are at the discretion of the event organisers."

Whilst Oktoberfest UK has not commented on its refund policy, they issued a statement via their Facebook page on Sunday evening saying: "The queue to get in was controlled but it was slow.

"This is due to the extensive searches that the security were required to carry out on every customer.

"This is a stipulation enforced by the licence and not something we could avoid. However, if we were to do it again we would introduce an additional queueing system by using more than one entrance to speed up the process."

They also addressed the wait for drinks, saying there were "numerous technical issues" at the start of the event, but insisted normal service resumed later in the evening.

The statement went on to say they had been working with new suppliers but had cut ties with the bar company "with immediate effect."

Despite many complaints, organisers insisted they had received "a lot of positive feedback" from those who stayed, claiming there was an "incredible" atmosphere.

They said: "We really appreciate all feedback, even when it's about a negative aspect of one of our events as it helps us to improve our operation."

Adding: "The event was not perfect, and for us as a team it's disappointing to know that some people’s enjoyment was impacted after we worked so hard on the event. We will be taking forward some important lessons to ensure no issues like this happen again."