Scottish Weekender has moved to

[Guest James Trouble]

I am fkcuing angry.

There is a group of five of us who have prebooked our flights and sorted out a nice little hotel. The flights have cost us £80 each, hotel about £50-60 a room. We have spent £500-600 plus £20 or so each on the tickets, for what we thought would be a nice weekend of soul music and scottish country side and fresh air.

And then I read:

scottish soul weekender edinburgh

fri 22nd, sat 23rd, sun 24th october 2004

although lots of interest was generated for the loch lomond event, most people were put of by the dorm style accommodation and the lack of hotels in the area,

therefore the event has been moved to MARCOS GROVE STREET EDINBURGH

I DON'T HAVE A PHONE NUMBER FOR THE PROMOTERS. COULD SOMEBODY TELL ME THE CONTACT DETAILS (NOT EMAIL, I NEED PHONE NUMBERS) OF THESE JOKERS, BECAUSE WE WANT THEM TO GIVE US OUR £500-600 FOR THE FLIGHTS AND HOTELS, AND ALSO WE WANT A REFUND ON OUR TICKETS THAT ARE NO FUCKING GOOD TO US BECAUSE WE HAVE FLIGHTS AND HOTELS THAT ARE IN A DIFFERENT PART OF THE COUNTRY TO THE VENUE.

THIS HAS TO BE A JOKE?!?!?!?!?!?

[Guest]

therefore the event has been moved to MARCOS GROVE STREET EDINBURGH

I DON'T HAVE A PHONE NUMBER FOR THE PROMOTERS. COULD SOMEBODY TELL ME THE CONTACT DETAILS (NOT EMAIL, I NEED PHONE NUMBERS) OF THESE JOKERS, BECAUSE WE WANT THEM TO GIVE US OUR £500-600 FOR THE FLIGHTS AND HOTELS, AND ALSO WE WANT A REFUND ON OUR TICKETS THAT ARE NO FUCKING GOOD TO US BECAUSE WE HAVE FLIGHTS AND HOTELS THAT A MILES AWAY FROM THE VENUE.

THIS HAS TO BE A JOKE?!?!?!?!?!?

I was thinking of going to this myself JT, but speaking to some scottish soulie m8's was told the promotor had arranged things before and advertised DJ's but hadn't even booked them and the event was cancelled in the end.Will mail one of my friends and try to get phone numbers for promotors if I can.

[Mark Bicknell]

James, I've been booked to DJ at this one mate and have heard nothing in a couple of months so i really can't tell you anything that you don't already know, this contact number may help Derek 0176 4681413, like i say it may help, after the change of venue etc. and now this i don't think i will be attending as communication has been a little thin on the ground with this.

Regards - Mark Bicknell.

[Mike]

flyer here

jt

theres a couple of numbers on the flyer at above link

should be able to make em out but if not give us a shout

mike

[Guest James Trouble]

ThinKing about it, our tickets are £80 each, not £20..... FACK, NOW I AM REALLY PISSED OFF.....I'M GUNNA MAKE THAT PHONE CALL RIGHT NOW...

[Guest James Trouble]

guess what, no answer! on landline or mobile.

[Guest]

guess what, no answer! on landline or mobile.

Maybe they at work?

Like I say, I was thinking of going myself but was put off by things I heard, let us know what happens will you ?

[Guest James Trouble]

I spoke to him, and now i am even more pissed off. Not once did he appologise. I was very calm and explained the situation and he got very aggressive and squirmed and tried to put the blame on me. He said we have not booked tickets because he has not had a single booking (this may be possible because our friend Jill was booking the tickets and was going to send them a cheque while we sorted out the flights and hotel, although he did say he had some cheques that he had not cashed(I'll check with Jill later if the money has come out of her account)).

I explained we were £500+ out of pocket and asked what he thought about it. NOT ONCE in a 15 minute conversation did he appologise. I suggested he sort us out with transport form our hotel in glasgow to the venue in edingburgh and he said he couldn't do that, and then I asked him why he had not appologised and he got very aggressive and i had to hang up the phone.

NOT ONE "sorry". I was looking to come to some sort of arrangment, maybe he could have sorted out a transfer from Glasgow and sort us out with a B+B (or maybe pay half). All he did was squirm and I thought he was bloody rude.

[Guest James Trouble]

He's just sent me a text message and he has said sorry (AT LAST!!!). He has said if we can cancel our hotels (we've already paid for them) then he will pick us up from Glasgow airport.

[Guest James Trouble]

Ok, I've spoken to Jill...

Jill did not send the money to the promoter because when she spoke to him he said "there's no rush, take your time there won't be a problem getting your tickets", she's had the cheque ready to send but luckily for us, it's not gone, so that's the ticket money saved. The promoter tried to tell me I was stupid to have booked the flights and hotels before I had tickets.

Jill booked three flights for her, her boyfriend and our friend "Our Price" at £76 each which have been paid for. Annie (my girlfriend) has not booked our flights because I was going to work on Friday and fly up in the evening and luckily she has not got around to booking them.

The B + B has been paid for at £25 per person per night. 5 of us has cost £250 and this has been paid for.

In total we are £478 out of pocket between 5 of us.

Fingers crossed we can get our hotel money back, but it's been paid for by VISA and I doubt very much the hotel owner will want to lose the money for 3 rooms in the middle of october, we'll give it a go though:-(

I've spoken to a couple of the DJs and they didn't have a clue that the event had been moved 100 miles down the road. One of the DJs was even giving flyers for the event out at the weekend and seemed a little confused as to why he was recomending it to people, when the event doesn't even exist.

[Guest Kolla]

JT

If it's a reputable Hotel they shouldn't have taken the money of you until you check-in (it's not legal). They will take your credit card details but that's so they can deduct the room rate IF you don't show up. Any hotel worth its salt will not charge you a penny if you're give them two months notice that you've cancelled. 48 hours notice is standard practice so it shouldn't be a problem.

And if you need Edinburgh Hotels, B&Bs etc try www.edinburgh.org... and speaking as a local, i can honestly say you'll have a far better time in Edinburgh than by stinky loch lomond, which in October will probably be frozen over any way )).

[Guest James Trouble]

I hope you're right Kolla, we'll give them ring after work tonight...

But if this event had been run by a reputable promoter in the first place then this problem would not have happened !!!!

[Youyou]

JT

If it's a reputable Hotel they shouldn't have taken the money of you until you check-in (it's not legal).  They will take your credit card details but that's so they can deduct the room rate IF you don't show up.  Any hotel worth its salt will not charge you a penny if you're give them two months notice that you've cancelled.  48 hours notice is standard practice so it shouldn't be a problem.

Yep. Normally it should be possible to cancel your hotel, as it is only July.

At the majority of hotel syou can even cancel until the day you are supposed to show up!

Best regareds

YouYou

[Guest Kolla]

But if this event had been run by a reputable promoter in the first place then this problem would not have happened !!!!

Absolutely - they should have done their research properly before putting out any flyers.

I guess it's a case of cold feet for them but that said, every one who's promoted an event knows that advanced ticket sales are alway poor right up until the last week when there's a manic rush. At the first Crossfire only around 30 tickets were sold in advance - Rob, Nick & Ady could have panicked and cancelled, but they didn't thankfully and as it turned out, there were over 800 thru the door on the night.

[Mark Bicknell]

Oh dear, looks like we won't be going to Scotland then.......... oh well plus this won't help the promotion any will it.

I hope it all works out.

Regards - Mark Bicknell.

[soulmac]

How many of the original Djs are still playing at this event seeing it's been moved from Loch Lommond to Edinburgh.

There seems to be a lack of info from the promoters.

Is the promotion still going ahead ?

soulmac.

[FrankM]

Here's what it says on Paul Massey's www.soulscotland.co.uk

"Derek Robertson's Weekender onOctober 22 , 23 and 24 has moved from a large country house on the shores of Loch Lomond to Marco's in Edinburgh. Friday session is 8pn until 3am; Saturday 2pm until 6pm and 8pm until 3am, and Sunday 2pm until 10pm, A weekend pass is £20. DJs include Soul Sam, Arthur Fenn, Bob Hinsley, Mark Bicknell, Kenny Burrell, Martin Gavin, Shug, Derek Robertson, Phil Beckworth, Dean Walker and others to be added. If interested email Derek by clicking here or call 01764 681413, or 07714980293."