Concert goers are still waiting for ticket refunds from a canceled country music festival.
Country Thunder Florida was scheduled for the 18th through the 20th of October. However, the weather didn’t exactly cooperate with the Kissimmee, Florida festival that would have had fans flocking to the Osceola Heritage Park. Hurricane Milton tore through the area and left the site of the music festival unfit for a three-day festival.
The lineup was set to include performances from headliners Luke Combs, Jon Pardi and Bailey Zimmerman. In a statement, organizers apologized for having to cancel and said the decision was made out of concern for safety after assessing damage to the venue.
They also assured those who bought tickets that they would be contacted about refunds within 30 days of the cancelation:
“We have worked closely alongside Osceola County Emergency Management and Osceola Heritage Park to assess the venue. It has been determined that we are unable to safely hold this year’s Country Thunder and must inform everyone that this year’s event has been regrettably canceled due to factors outside of our control.
We sincerely wish the best to the people of Florida as they begin the process to clean up and repair their lives after the destruction caused by Hurricane Milton, and especially our CT Nation fans who have been so supportive of our festival over the years. We will contact each ticket holder within 30 days with instructions to access refunds, and appreciate your patience in this process.”
— Country Thunder (@countrythunder) October 11, 2024
Notice the date for that announcement is October 11th.
As you know, we’re now almost to 2025… and some people that had bought tickets to Country Thunder still haven’t gotten their refunds. And it doesn’t sound like they will be getting them before the New Year. When fans have attempted to call the offices of Country Thunder Music Festivals, they’ve gotten this message:
“Thank you for calling Country Thunder Music Festivals. Our offices are currently closed from December 21st to January 5th.”
Some fans have went to social media to voice their concerns and frustrations with the refund process, saying that they’ve never even gotten an email to inform them the refund process has begun.
Many that were waiting to get their money back were encouraged by a statement that Country Thunder provided to Fox 35, saying that most would get their refunds either before or right around Christmas day:
“Each order must be manually verified to ensure accuracy before refunds can be issued. Additionally, we have to verify payment methods and examine all chargebacks initiated by fans through their credit card companies. We feel confident… tickets will be refunded no later than December 26th.”
Apparently “feeling confident” didn’t mean anything at all.
Now, it appears that the best case scenario for some will be to get their refunds three months after the Country Thunder Festival was canceled – since their offices are apparently closed until January 5th. The music festival company has already moved the location of Florida’s Country Thunder for next year, changing the site from Kissimmee, Florida to Tampa Bay. It’ll now take place in May instead of October.
Though after this refund fiasco, it seems as though Country Thunder will have to regain the trust of some fans…
@axs not very impressed that almost 4 weeks after Country Thunder Florida was cancelled I’m still awaiting confirmation refund has been processed – almost $1,000! Please can you action…
— Elaine Prosser (@prosser_elaine) November 6, 2024
