WE Fest VIPs demanding refunds

FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) -

“We were put in the worst campsite, furthest away with the worst conditions,” says Colleen Unger.

She was a first-timer to the music festival this year. She said her friends that have attended before have always loved the festival.

However, she says her experience was much different. “It was probably one of the most disorganized events I’ve ever been to and the most frustrating part about it was, was that management was in denial; they said everything was going smoothly and everyone was really happy and honestly that couldn’t be the further from the truth,” says Unger.

Unger isn’t the only one who purchased VIP campground tickets and was then told the campground was oversold. One festival-goer said that after waiting in line for hours, they got a call from a friend who said VIP was full.

“I was like, ‘well what do you mean, full?’ Like, filling up it’s busy?’ We expected that, right,” says Dawn Cooper. “But they were like, ‘they don’t have anywhere to put people- it’s full.’”

Neither Unger or Cooper have received a refund yet, but one person we talked to who purchased VIP campground tickets through a 3rd-party vendor was able to get some of her money back after her experience.

“Yes, I got the refund, but they also kept the service fees, which is very frustrating. It’s at least $150-200 in service fees alone,” says Kathy.

She says she bought tickets months in advance as a gift for her dad.

“It was a Father’s Day present for my dad. I knew he had mentioned a few years ago that he had been wanting to go to WE Fest and it’s been on his bucket list,” explains Kathy.

After waiting in line for three hours, Kathy and her family were told they wouldn’t be guaranteed the electricity or the campsite they purchased, which they specifically needed for her dad’s medical condition, so they made the hard choice to go back home and miss the festival.

“Our apologies go out to those people that that happened to and we’ll do our best to make it right,” says WE Fest General Manager, Mark Bjerke.

Bjerke says they’ll be working with everyone who missed out on VIP camping on an individual basis.

If you haven’t been contacted about your refund yet, you can reach out to WE Fest management via email to discuss your refund.

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