Ultra Music Festival is now facing a class-action lawsuit due to its refund policy. After a forced cancellation this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, many ticket holders asked that refunds be offered but were, unfortunately, denied. However, the renowned festival only gave them the option to keep their tickets for either Ultra 2021 or 2022. Surely, not many people were happy with this news.
A lawsuit was filed against the legendary music festival on Tuesday at the U.S. District Court’s Southern District of Florida. It alleges that Ultra’s refund policy is unfair and seeks relief for the plaintiffs, class, and/or ticket holders who wish to refund their passes and be paid back fully.
Ultra Music Festival was one of the first events to be affected due to the coronavirus. Many other events followed suit right after its cancellation, such as South by Southwest and Coachella. The festival was supposed to set an example as to how other music events should be able to handle such a unique situation as this. However, instead of stating that the event was canceled, they claimed that it would only be postponed. Many expect that this was done so that full refunds didn’t have to be offered to ticket holders.
The Lawsuit
According to their refund policy, Ultra is allowed to deny full or partial refunds. However, if the event was canceled due to issues far out of their control, they can issue purchasers refunds, postpone the event for a future date, or offer an alternative yet comparable option instead. According to Rolling Stone, the lawsuit calls this provision an “unenforceable unilateral option contract.” The refund policy also states that if the festival is rescheduled, then customers would not be given a refund. Therefore, the lawsuit calls for Ultra’s terms and conditions to be modified, added, removed, updated, or revised.
The two plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit are Miami resident Samuel Hernandez and Richard Montoure from Garyland, Washington. Hernandez purchased over $3,000 worth of tickets to the event. He asked about a refund but was only given the option of keeping the tickets for a future date. Unfortunately, he was only able to use this alternative for two tickets and was stuck with the other four. Montoure, on the other hand, asked for a refund as well but redeemed the benefit Ultra Music Festival offered him because he did not want to lose the value on his tickets. Sadly, neither of them received a refund.
Ultra Music Festival has yet to comment on the lawsuit. Stay tuned for more updates on this story.
2020.05.26-Ultra-As-Filed-Complaint-