PayPal: 'We WILL accept refund claims on cancelled comedy and music events in Kettering'

PayPal say they now WILL accept refund claims lodged by angry Wicksteed Park gig ticket holders after the firms behind the events went bust.

M&B Promotions had been due to put on a series of events at the Kettering park this summer, but last week both they and ticket vendors Simple Ticketing Ltd ceased trading.

All planned gigs, including a Comedy in the Park event and a Craig David show, were cancelled, and those who had forked out hundreds of pounds for tickets were told to contact PayPal or their bank for a refund.

Hundreds of people said they were refused a refund from PayPal after doing so because it was 'out of time', with people generally given 180 days from the date of purchase to lodge a claim, leading to Kettering MP Philip Hollobone offering to take up claims on his constituents' behalf.

But now, having been inundated with calls and claims from people around the country, the payment service has said they will accept and review claims made after the 180-day deadline - and will be contacting those who they've previously rejected.

A PayPal spokesman told the Northants Telegraph: "Most of our customers use PayPal every day without any issues, but sometimes things don’t go as expected and that’s why we offer our Buyer Protection programme. Customers have 180 days from the date of a payment to tell us about a problem with their purchase under PayPal’s Buyer Protection programme.

"Given the exceptional circumstances, we have decided to accept and review Buyer Protection claims after the 180-day deadline for customers who used PayPal to pay Simple Ticketing for tickets to events.

"We will be using our discretion to make goodwill refunds to customers who have eligible claims under the terms of the Buyer Protection programme.

"We will be contacting customers who have already made a claim, including those whose claims we previously rejected as beyond the 180-day deadline. We will also consider further claims.

"We’d like to thank customers for their patience as we work through their claims in these exceptional circumstances."