Is CPL 2015’s refund policy a scam?

Jul 17, 2015 Letters

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Dear Editor,
I write with dismay and the feeling of being conned. Having purchased several tickets for me and my friends well in advance of yesterday’s Caribbean Premier League (CPL) game, I drove to the Stadium in pouring rain at 5:30pm. The trip took almost an hour to get from Georgetown to the parking lot for which I had paid a non-refundable $1,000 to park. The gas consumption to and from the Stadium of my car would easily be another $1,000. Outfitted with my hastily arranged dinner and drink costing me and my friends each another $1,000 I proceeded into the Stadium.
Of course, as it rained, the fault of no one, I waited. Announcements concerning the adjusted game time were okay and the atmosphere conducive. I got wet, but that I catered for and while the music was good, it was partially biased towards one flavour. Nevertheless and eventually rain had the final say and the game duly called off. At that point one would have expected the termination announcement would have been accompanied by a reminder about ticket refunds. But no word was said about the ticket refunds. My friends and I approached the few match officials remaining, but mum was the word.
The ticketing booth at the Stadium shrugged us off and officials hastily closed the door. I went to relook at the CPL ticketing terms and conditions on their ticketing website, Kyazoonga and the notification at the ticketing office in Middle Street, where clear rules are laid out about refund. Until my time of writing, I have had no word on my refund, nor did any news reporter find it opportune to write about the next steps in the next day paper or online newspapers. As I do not expect all 15,000 or so people to be accommodated at their ticketing office to facilitate refunds, CPL website offered no guidance. Hopefully reporters’ favourable accommodation in the press box by CPL does not influence their views.
So what does the refund policy say, point 10 of the CPL Terms and Conditions in summary says that once the day’s play is limited as a result of rain and to other acts beyond the control of the CPL, CPL is obliged to refund 100% of the face value of tickets purchased where five overs or less bowled, in this case, not a ball was bowled. The rules are also clear about how to go about seeking this refund.
To receive a refund, the retained portion of the ticket stub must be presented and surrendered to a ticket office authorized by the Caribbean Premier League within ten (10) working days after the completion of the game for which the refund is being sought. Refunds will be made only for tickets purchased from Caribbean Premier League ticket offices. Under no other circumstances will refunds be given. Refunds shall only be made to the persons whose name appears on the ticket. So you may wonder what the hell am I asking about?!
There is one big problem: despite our concerted objections we were forced to surrender my ticket stub at approximately 8:30pm to match officials just before climbing the stairs of the stadium to get to my seating area! Earlier at the gates of the stadium the torn off portion of the ticket was taken, as is customary. However, a seemingly suddenly arranged team of CPL workers, and I confirmed their badges, were seen at the bottom of the stairway of each stand instructing patrons with the assistance of police officers to hand over the ticket stubs amidst the drizzling rain, to gain entry to the actual seating, a newly added layer of ticket control from previous CPL editions and other cricketing events at this stadium.
Given that Kayzoonga’s is yet to alter or revise its last point, 11, of its terms and conditions, which speaks to “modifications, alterations and changes at the sole discretion of Caribbean Premier League, Kyazoonga.com and their affiliates”, the current refund policy remains enforced for tickets purchased and CPL has therefore clearly breached its own Terms and Conditions by demanding the ticket stubs at the stadium. Ticket stubs are like receipts for the purchase of any good or service. But taking my ticket stub CPL is also breaching the laws of Guyana.
So what’s next? One can only assume this new and added control measure at the foot of the stadium stairs was done to better facilitate the refund policy whereby ticket holders will be telephoned at varying times to come uplift their monies since all contact details ticket holders are documented and saved in their CPL/Kyazoonga database. More so then an announcement accompanied by media release from CPL would have clarified this abrupt change in policy.
I sincerely hope CPL is not thinking this issue will hide itself away from the public glare. The public should not allow CPL to scam Guyanese patrons who are already doling out on average at least $2,000 each for travelling arrangements in addition to the average ticket price of $3,000. Further, it must be noted that Guyana is already paying the highest ticket prices in the region. Unlike the all other CPL 2015 host countries Guyanese are also not benefiting from the 15% off season ticket policy still being advertised on Kyazoonga website, nor the free entry child policy.
Despite these limited incentives, a near capacity crowd braved the weather and turned up to the stadium on Wednesday 15 July 2015, having been starved of cricket because of a prolonged ‘dispute’ between WICB and the Guyana cricketing ‘authorities’.
Revenue earned from ticket sales alone for Wednesday’s game would be in the vicinity of GY$67 million, for no cricket that is a hefty haul. We are not even looking at alternate revenue streams in particular television rights which normally by itself give tournaments a decent profit. We heard of the controversy surrounding payments which CPL solicited of this government, I cannot understand such need for extra money.
The government has since committed itself instead to offer concessions to CPL for the round of matches here in Guyana. One would therefore hope the government would secure the rights of ticket patrons and ensure they receive their refunds well in time before the CPL bandwagon leaves these shores. Given CPL’s breach of its own ticket refund policy or to establish favourable alternative arrangements, it seems the only leverage patrons have is government’s concessions granted to CPL. We do not want to wait to hear that CPL, which has miraculously complained in recent months of financial troubles, suddenly manages to declare bankruptcy, thus ending refund hopes.
R. Persaud

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