By B&TF
If you haven’t heard yet, here’s some really sad and disappointing news for L word Convention goers. The first ever Down Under L Convention in Sydney that was supposed to take place in January 2010 was recently cancelled. The association made the decision a few days ago due to the lack of tickets sale and the lack of support from the Australian community.
The emails were sent to everyone who bought their tickets and here’s an official announcement on the Convention website:
Dear L Word Down Under Convention Ticket Purchasers,
Due to the lack of tickets sales for the L Word Down Under Convention, United L Events Inc. is regrettably cancelling the event. Please note that ticket holders will have their refunds automatically processed within 5 days of the cancellation (excluding booking fees) and in accordance with the ‘Terms and Conditions’ stated as follows: “In the event of cancellation of the event only the face value of the ticket will be refunded”. We apologize for any inconvenience and request for your patience and thank you for your understanding with this process. For any enquiries please contact info@thelworddownunder.com
As sad and disappointing the news of cancellation is, things like that happens time to time. I remember two years ago there was a German QAF/TLW Convention announced but it was also cancelled due to the lack of tickets sold. Laurel Holloman was the only cast member from The L Word scheduled to attend.
It’s probably really hard for the first time convention organizers to take to the account everything that is necessary to run a successful convention. The Down Under Convention was promising and great. They announced eight guests and had a mystery guest lined up, lots of wonderful activities and entertainment scheduled. It was also a great opportunity for Australian fans of the show to have a Convention in their neck of the woods, especially for those who couldn’t afford to go all the way to England.
So far, we haven’t yet heard from the cast members who were scheduled to appear, except for Laurel Holloman. She posted on her twitter account a message to Janina Gavankar, saying “no aussie C, bummer”.
I know a few people who had already bought their plane tickets, so they decided to go to Sydney anyway and enjoy their vacation because, let’s face it, Australia is a wonderful and beautiful country to visit and there are plenty of places to sightsee and enjoy.
The news was sad but don’t despair because it’s not the end of the L Word Conventions. There’s still L7 happening next June in Birmingham, England and you can check out the updates here http://discussion.l-word.com/viewtopic.php?t=16794&start=30
There’s also a possibility of L Word/QAF Convention in Paris sometime in September/October 2010. If you would like to see Laurel Holloman and Erin Daniels in Paris who attended the previous Paris Convention, you can vote here . If you want to see anyone else, vote here .
The organizers implied that Jennifer Beals and Gale Harold would be the obvious winners so they are not included in the voting list, because if they can get them for the Convention, they would. Since the chances to get Jennifer Beals to attend are slim, the Convention organizers offer other choices from both “Queer as Folk” and “The L Word”.
We will keep you updated on the upcoming L Word Conventions so watch our site for any information or changes.
Well if the tickets weren’t FIVE HUNDRED Australian dollars for premium and 100 and something for other tickets maybe more people would’ve gone. The pricing was ridiculous.
And after several weeks still no sign of our ticket refunds and the L word down under site has disappeared.
Anyone actually receive a refund out there???
I haven’t received my refund either….
i havent recieved my refund, nor has my friend, nor has anyone who i have spoken to. Terms and conditions state refunds will be processed withing 5 days. Its been 2 months! they also dont reply to any emails. They arent even letting anyone know whats happening. seems very dodgy to me! time to talk to someone about bringing these ppl down
between me and my friend we are owed over $800 they better start doing something about it hey cos its so bad that they dont even reply to any emails. people are not only uninformed, waiting for there refunds, but we have booked flights and accomodation which we cant get back. its unbelievable. ok these things happen but they should be doing the right thing by everybody and at least keeping in contact, and giving refunds. absolute BULLSHIT.
Carla J D’Agostino & Jan Walker….these are the people responsible.
Dec. 18th and still no refund or contact from organisers.
Between my friend and I we are owed approx. $900. Beginning to wonder if the whole thing was a scam!
We are owed $1350.00 for 3 platinum tix.And we still have not got a refund either.
You would hope women would not treat women in this fashion.
Not only disappointed at the cancellation but disappointed at the treatment from the organisers. I would like someone to contact those that paid and let us know what the likelihood of refund is. How could you trust anyone associated wth an L word convention again. This site says dont worry we can go to London or Paris-are they serious! They should be following this up as well as it doesnt show the L word team in a great light if they dont feel some responsibility to those that have potentially lost their money. Would like to approach corporate affairs but dont even have a phone number or mail address of the organisers.
Hi!
I haven’t received my refund ($800) either and also no answer
to my email.
But I’m not willing to let me cheat.
Will write an email again today and when I get no answer,
I will show the persons responsible for willful fraud.
We should unite us in the case of fraud.
Nobody can disappear without leaving a trace.
And together, we have better chances.
Please write what you think.
We have not received the refund (2 tickets) and also tried to contact them but the email has been bounced back.
Is there anyway to contact to get OUR MONEY BACK!
If no news, we will never trust these type of events again!
NO REFUND because its nothing but a god damn scam!!
still no sign of a refund or any response from the organisers!
I have been waiting for over a month now for a refund of $900. I dont know what to do as I paid through paypal and I cant get any information such as a telephone number or email contact. Is there anyway Paypal can supply this as it was paid through them.
Paypal should be responsible for all the refunds if this was a scam.
I agree, i also am waiting for $900 how do we get a hold of these people? if it is a scam then Paypal should be held responsible. anyone had any luck?
We used paypal as well and we haven’t got a refund either. The official website has been taken down and so none of the emails work.
But it was on the RADIO. Marlee Matlin talked about it on her verified twitter.
It makes no sense. Maybe they just went broke or something.
I’ve lodged a complaint with ACCC .. Hope there’s something they can do! I will not trust such events in Australia anymore if nothing is done!
I am also waiting for a refund. Does anyone know whats going on?? Cant believe this is happening, $900 is just to much to lose!
http://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/ConsumerProtection/
I have spoken to someone in consumer protection-link above- ( Dept of Commerce WA) and will be lodging a formal complaint through them. They said they are aware of the situation and will try to get refund. Worth a try!
The woman at the helm of the organisation is a known fraud…has previously been involved in other scams….good luck with getting the money back, it sure is a shame!!
have taken the advise of Helaine and logged a complaint with the dept. of commerce wa they said they will try and get a refund. My suggestion is the more people that submit a complaint the more power we have to maybe get something done. worth a try!!! good luck everyone.
i haven’t gotten my money either and sent my complain to dep. of commerce as well, they are working on it because it’s such a big deal, let’s hope we can all get somehting back…it is a shame that the fans have been treated so badly by someone who supposed to be a fan of the show as well
I am in the same boat. Still awaiting a refund of $900.00. I have contacted the ACCC with no luck so I will try the Department of Commerce here in WA. I also sent a twitter to Marlee Matlin who stated that she too got scammed by the whole thing and that the organisers are unreachable. Hopefully her response will help our case just that little bit more.
I have just been in touch with the Australian office of the FBI who has advised that we are to register our complaint with http://www.ic3.gov They will then look into it and if our complaint ‘has merit’ they will be organising for the AFP to get involved. We may not get all our money back but those who’ve been found to commit fraud will surely become ‘persons of interest’ and hopefully, we will get justice served one way or another.
I’ve taken some time to do some investigations into this matter. If you would like further info please feel free to message me. However, I’ve spoken to the following places and will provide you with their web addresses in the hope of giving us a little bit of justice.
I have lodged a complaint with the FBI (due to the American company being used to fund what looks like a scam). You can lodge a complaint with them on http://www.ic3.gov
You can also get in touch with the Dept of Commerce Wa on 1300 304 054 who have informed me they have jurisdiction over the complaint. Their website is http://www.commerce.wa.gov.au where you can download a form.
For those who paid using paypal you will need to lodge a request that your file be re-opened for dispute. You need to email and attention this to the Legal Department.
The NSW Dept of Fair Trading have also advised they will take complaints (however, these may be referred to WA Commerce anyway) but you can call them on 133220.
The AFP have also been informed but they advise us all to lodge a report with our local police for they now have jurisdiction to check into this. You can also file a report with the Police line on 131 444 or Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000.
The AFP advised that the state police will be treating this as fraud. However, I suspect that if enough complaints are made, the AFP will most likely get involved.
Scamwatch.gov.au have also been advised of the situation.
Lotl have also advised they are running an article on the situation.
Dept of Fair Trading suggested that we all lodge a class action complaint.
However, I suggest you email paypal at the above address and lodge your formal complaint with WA Commerce to save time and hopefully, get some money back.
Travelling all over the world may be fun for some to post, knowing that they have unscrupulously used the money of honest others, but this may mean a global mobile number and answering emails as a stalling tactic. It is also a possibility that Carla may be an innocent victim so it’s best that we don’t jump to too many conclusions for now.
Hope this information helps you all.
Let’s hope we get some justice.
oops. The paypal email is aucr@paypal and then attention this to the Legal Department.
You can also email me at annieb_33@hotmail.com if you require more information
Try the scam artists themselves Carla D’Agostino and Joy Sanderson
There was HUGE interest in the l word down under, and the fans here LOVE the l word, but with the recession and all i don’t think the fans could afford the 400 tickets. You have to get inside of peoples finances. i know i couldn’t afford the ticket, and i think thats the real reason. So please don’t blame the australian fans, blame yourselves on trying to squeeze the PINK DOLLAR just a little over budget.
Yahoo! Finally received a refund through the credit card for not receiving goods paid for. If you paid by credit card it is worth contacting your bank or Credit Card company. We were way past the stated time limit but still received the refund. Good luck!
The ticket prices were ridiculous and unnecessary. That was the true reason for the lack of “interest”. It was simply unnatainable.