An influencer’s dream has turned into a nightmare.
The prestigious Beyond Van Gogh Experience was supposed to be opening its exhibit in Victoria on October 14th. Now delays have pushed them back by more than 40 days.
Many Vancouver Islanders are livid about the delays, but not because of the minor inconvenience of it all.
People are angry with the event because the venue, Beyond Van Gogh co-ordinators and the public relations firm representing the event have failed to communicate with ticket buyers of the delays.
Because of their lack of communication several people told Victoria Buzz they have shown up to the venue, only to be dumb-founded that the event isn’t there and won’t be for some time.
“They cancelled the show and did not send out any notifications,” disgruntled ticket holder, Tesse Dionne, told Victoria Buzz.
“We showed up for our booking at 10 a.m. Friday October 28th to an empty lot. No signage, nothing.”
“The tickets stated it would be at the starry night pavilion at Bayview. So we go into the Bayview building where we are told that [venue staff] were told absolutely nothing.”
According to Dionne, staff on hand told them that several people had been showing up to the venue, confused to find an empty parking lot but staff was told nothing of the delay or the event itself.
The Beyond Van Gogh website had no indication of a cancellation or show delay. At a glance it seems like it is on and operating now.
“When we emailed Beyond Van Gogh Victoria directly, they sent us back an email within an hour or two stating we could not get a refund because we had till October 23rd to request one,” said Dionne.
Initially, the first delay pushed the event’s grand opening from October 14th to November 11th.
As of November 7th, the public relations firm representing the event informed Victoria Buzz they would not be opening their doors until November 25th.
On all of Beyond Van Gogh Victoria’s social media accounts, the organizers have made no attempt to post an apology to ticket holders or even to inform them of the massive show delays. They only reply to comments from angry customers to attempt an apology.
On the surface, once again, it appears as if it’s happening now as they all have pictures of the event taking place in other cities. The following is a post Beyond Van Gogh Victoria made on November 5th:
“They have postponed their tour here twice now due to what they call shipping problems,” another upset ticket holder, Gloria Egeli, told Victoria Buzz.
“I am asking for a refund on my tickets, but have doubts that will come through.”
As of this publication, the Beyond Van Gogh Victoria website makes it appear as if the event should be going on as planned, no delays are mentioned.
It is only when you click directly on the “purchase tickets” link that you can see their opening day is slated for November 25th.
Prices for Van Gogh Victoria will start at $31.99 for adults, and many are not receiving word of delays, not receiving refunds or having to fight tooth and nail to get their money back. The VIP tickets many paid for were between $73.99 and $83.99.
Marnie Wilson, a representative from Artsbiz Public Relations, who is representing the Beyond Van Gogh experience said that emails sent to customer service at hello@vangoghvictoria.com are being responded to within 48 hours.
She also told Victoria Buzz that refunds are fully available for all customers.
Victoria Buzz the Beyond team themselves, but have not received any word or statement on the issues that have been causing the delays or lack of communication.
