Tens of thousands of people who bought tickets to the ill-fated Electric Zoo festival are still waiting for refunds, nearly three months after the annual electronic dance music gathering on Randall’s Island descended into chaos.
So far, Electric Zoo hasn’t issued direct refunds to those who attended the festival over Labor Day weekend, though some have successfully disputed the charges for tickets with their credit card companies.
The first day of this year’s festival was abruptly canceled just hours before gates were to open, with the city declining to issue permits as the organizers struggled to get the stages built on time, and thousands of people were blocked from attending the third day after organizers oversold tickets and festival grounds quickly reached capacity.
Electric Zoo’s organizers — led by Avant Gardner, the company that also owns the Brooklyn Mirage, an East Williamsburg megavenue — haven’t communicated with ticket holders since Sept. 13, when they sent an email asking for “patience” and pledging to “be in touch with the specifics [about refunds] as soon as possible.”
Since then, hundreds of festivalgoers have taken to Reddit, Facebook and other social media platforms to voice their frustration and document their efforts to dispute their ticket charges, with some banks refunding the money to their accounts and others declining to do so.
“I think the whole situation is pretty frustrating,” said Victor Rivera, 21, a resident of Mercer County, New Jersey, who attended the festival and helps run an EDM news site, Raverade. “Why release a wordy statement to just end up saying, like, nothing at the end of it, and then only to sit silent for like two months?”
Rivera said his chargeback request with his bank remains pending.
In response to questions from Gothamist, Avant Gardner issued a brief statement on Wednesday afternoon, in which it again promised refunds without providing further detail.
“Electric Zoo will be issuing refunds…
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