South African event technology company Howler is one of the many Creative and Entertainment companies feeling the pinch and panic of the prevailing COVID-19 Pandemic. After the World Health Organization‘s very clear advice to the public about Social Distancing as well as the SA Government’s ban of gatherings of more than 100 people; prominent festivals have folded their plans one at a time.
Major events right across the globe have been postponed or cancelled due to COVID-19. Some, for the first time in 100 years.
Responding to the disappointed ticket holders, Howler was quick to remind them of the magnitude of the pandemic in an email statement.
For starters, you are not going to be able to attend your favourite events or festivals, at least for the foreseeable future. Not cool? We agree…you’re affected and probably disappointed. But, this is bigger than that. – Howler Statement
The entire entertainment and the live music business are reeling. Never mind the ripple effect on DJs, vendors, bar companies, security, AV, tenting and décor.
(Say a prayer for the designers, communicators, influencers, social media people and creatives like us. 😭)
Anyway, if you purchased your tickets on Howler, you might not get your full refund. This is because each event has it’s own cancellation policies and most use early bird tickets to finance the production of an event.
Howler explained;
Most event organisers rely on ticket sales to fund their events. This is an industry norm. In many cases, they use the ticket revenue to cover event production costs and pay deposits to their suppliers.
Although it may be tempting to hurl Social Media insults at organizers during your social distancing time; Howler asks you to show some heart 💖.
If you receive only a partial refund, please stop to think about the situation they’re (organizers) in. Have compassion. It’s not cool to lose out on cash, we agree. But stop to think about the unbelievable threat to the industry.
In case you were wondering why event organizers don’t just use the insurance to cover these loses/costs; many organisers have event cancellation insurance in place, but communicable diseases are not covered by these policies.
Without partial refunds or postponements, many event organisers could go out of business.
We’re in constant discussion with event organisers to optimally manage literally hundreds of events cancelled overnight.
If you had made a request for a refund, Howler recommends the following steps:
- Over the next few days, keep an eye on your inbox and social media, because event organisers will communicate with you directly about postponements or refunds.
- If an event is postponed, take that ticket! At some stage, this whole crazy time will end and you’ll want to get out and celebrate.
For further queries or assistance, you can email, help.howler.co.za.
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