Sunday, 15 October 2017

AR Escapes - Hold off on buying tickets for The Ripper live action escape event


<<<<<<  UPDATE  >>>>>>>
On 27 October 2017, they have announced (by email to ticket holders) that they are cancelling the events across Australia and all ticket holders will receive their money back by Monday 30 October 2017.  

How any company can think it's appropriate to ignore customers for months on end is amazing to me, let alone for a company running an event that lives and dies by their level of customer interaction and satisfaction!

They also refer in their email to running the events in the future for free and inviting ticket holders to attend.  Don't hold your breath...
<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Hi all

Just a quick update to my earlier post on the AR Escapes live action event (you can see my earlier post here).

Things aren't looking good for the event.  Many customers (including me) who purchased tickets back in July still haven't received our tickets.  Many of us have written to AR Escapes via email and Facebook and we have received no response at all.

If I hear anything from them, I'll post an update here.  However, I wouldn't recommend buying any tickets at this stage.

A similar thing happened last year with a Werewolf escape live action experience that was supposed to be run in Sydney, but which never got off the ground.  I did manage to get my money back last time though...

Thanks
Scott

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35 comments:

  1. Unknown15 October 2017 at 23:35

    Hey Scott,

    We bought tickets back in August, which came through as an email from Event Smart... did you not receive even that? I presume it counted as tickets. Here's hoping they don't gyp us!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Scott16 October 2017 at 15:22

      Yeah, they have just sent them through. But is the map on yours of Sydney or of England?

      Delete
  2. Unknown15 October 2017 at 23:36

    We received our tickets in August via an email from Event Smart... here's hoping they honor them!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Scott16 October 2017 at 15:21

    Hi all

    I've now received my tickets to the event (after I made a complaint on their Facebook feed). However, they look super dodgy (the cover email doesn't look correct and the tickets show a map of the location of the event, but the map is in the middle of England). I'm still not convinced that it is all above board. I'll report back if that changes.

    Thanks
    Scott

    ReplyDelete
  4. Unknown17 October 2017 at 14:56

    Sorry for the double posting - yep my map is also England, weird...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Unknown19 October 2017 at 18:00

    I have brought the tickets for Melbourne and haven't heard from them since they said they are going to change ticket provider....

    People on people start saying it's a scam and asking their bank for refund. As you had some experience before :P Could you provide some guidance on what to do now?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Scott22 October 2017 at 21:24

      Hi

      Last time (with the Werewolf Experience that didn't happen) it was a little easier for 2 reasons. The first was that I contacted the venue and the venue confirmed that it was a sham. The second reason was that I paid by PayPal, so I could easily lodge a complaint.

      This time around, I paid by credit card, so I have to go through my bank (CBA). CBA has told me that they can't do anything until after the schedule date for the event (because it is only afterwards that I can confirm they didn't provide what I have paid for). So come November 12, I will be lodging a complaint with CBA, who will then deal with the bank that was used for ticket sales. If there are hundreds of others also making complaints, we should all be ok. Fingers crossed.

      Thanks
      Scott

      Delete
  6. devkev26 October 2017 at 17:01

    Ominously, their Facebook page is now gone, and the EventSmart pages for booking tickets now each have a big warning which says "THIS EVENT MAY HAVE BEEN POSTED FRAUDULENTLY BY THE EVENT ORGANIZER. THEY ARE NOT RESPONDING TO COMMUNICATION REQUESTS. PLEASE CONTACT YOUR CARD ISSUER TO PLACE A WATCH ON YOUR PURCHASE OR REQUEST A REFUND."

    ReplyDelete
  7. Scott26 October 2017 at 19:15

    Hi all

    They have emailed ticket holders today confirming that they have cancelled all events in Australia and that we will receive refunds within the 72 hours (ie by Monday 30/10/17).

    I'll put an update above in the main blog post.

    Thanks
    Scott

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown30 October 2017 at 23:26

      Hi Scott
      Did you receive an email? As i havent receieved one yet.. I tried emailing AR Escapes but did not go through...

      Delete
    2. devkev1 November 2017 at 16:55

      Have you gotten a refund?

      Still no email and no refund here, both for myself and for the 3 others I signed up with.

      So it seems likely that anything they've said to you is just lies, and this is a complete scam from start to finish.

      Delete
  8. K28 October 2017 at 22:47

    What a shame. I had booked this for our wedding anniversary lol! Hope the refund comes through. Off to book another place then!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous31 October 2017 at 03:41

    Hi all,

    Can someone tell me what the charge came up as on their bank statement? I purchased tickets back in August but can’t locate the transaction. Wondering if they used a different name?

    I also haven’t received any email from them as mentioned in the previous post.

    Thanks in advance,
    Jen

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown15 November 2017 at 14:02

      Hi Jen, mine came ups as: ARESCAPES CARLTON STH

      Hope that helps :)

      Delete
  10. Anonymous31 October 2017 at 03:43

    Hi all,

    Can someone tell me what the charge came up as on their bank statement? I bought the tix in mid-August and can’t seem to locate the charge. Wondering if they’ve used a different company name? I also haven’t receive any email comms as mentioned in the above post.

    Thanks in advance,
    Jen

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Scott3 November 2017 at 04:56

      Hi Jen

      My credit card statement says "ARESCAPES CARLTON STH VIC".

      Thanks
      Scott

      Delete
  11. Unknown31 October 2017 at 19:58

    I'm in a pickle in that the card I purchased with has since been closed... no response on my emails on how to provide them with alternate refund details.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown15 November 2017 at 14:03

      Can you contact the company you held your card with? They may allow it to be processed another way?

      Delete
  12. Jo1 November 2017 at 23:36

    Still waiting for my money back! Starting to doubt if we’ll ever see it! So disappointing! Anyone else seen anything other than an email full of promises????

    ReplyDelete
  13. Jo1 November 2017 at 23:39

    Still waiting for my money back. Has anyone seen anything other than an email full of promises? I don’t think our money’s coming - so disappointing! Ordinary way to run a business!

    ReplyDelete
  14. bdforbes2 November 2017 at 19:36

    I haven't yet received my refund, although a friend did receive theirs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Scott3 November 2017 at 04:52

      Hi all

      I also haven't received my refund, but a friend of mine has. I've emailed AR Escapes to find out why I don't have my refund (maybe I have been too vocal online) ;-)

      Also, sorry to those who have double commented above - it's my fault, not yours. I get so many comments on my blog from spammers that I have a system where I have to approve comments before they are published on here.

      I'll report back as soon as I hear from AR Escapes or I get my refund.

      Thanks
      Scott

      Delete
  15. devkev7 November 2017 at 18:02

    Has anyone heard... anything? Any confirmed refunds? The Sydney event was scheduled for this Saturday 11 Nov, but I haven't heard anything at all (and no refund) from the organisers.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Unknown8 November 2017 at 19:01

    I have contacted my bank to raise a dispute in the meantime, as I'm still waiting on a refund and am a bit concerned that the payment is way back in August. Guess we'll see!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Unknown8 November 2017 at 19:32

    I have spoken to my bank as did not get any notice from the ar place about anything. They advised that it was going to be refunded quickly as it appears that lots of people have had to do the same.
    I was really looking forward to it too.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Scott12 November 2017 at 04:00

    Hey all

    I got my refund a few days ago. It was about a week and a half later than they promised.

    I too was really looking forward to this experience. But given they way they handled things, I have no doubt the experience would have been poor.

    Hopefully everyone gets their money back.

    Scott

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shironu22 November 2017 at 17:38

      Hi Scott.

      So you managed to contact them via their official email? Or did you raise a dispute to the credit card company and they refunded within 1 and 1/2 week?

      Thanks

      Delete
    2. Scott27 November 2017 at 14:39

      Hi Shironu

      I sent an email to their official email address. I was about to contact my credit card company (who said they couldn't do anything until after the event was scheduled) but in the week leading up to the event, I received my refund.

      Thanks
      Scott

      Delete
  19. Unknown15 November 2017 at 14:06

    I did comment on your original post but will post here as well. I did not receive a refund from AR Escapes, so I contacted by bank and they have advised it will be reversed and if after 20 working days AR Escapes do not dispute the refund it will all be fine. So please if you did not receive the refund direct from AR Escapes contact your bank!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Unknown22 November 2017 at 11:56

    We purchased tickets for the Singapore event way back in August (for a game on 3rd December). I was wondering why they never sent any email updates about the event, and went to check out the registration site. It was only then that I saw a notice saying that it's a possible fraud :( Not sure what we should do!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown22 November 2017 at 15:47

      Contact your bank to raise a dispute. I'd also email them to ask for the money back, so you can say you've tried to resolve with the merchant directly.

      Delete
  21. K23 November 2017 at 21:05

    I haven't received my refund either, despite two emails to them. I've also contact my bank to raise a case.
    Nevertheless, I wish AR Escapes had a phone number so I can give them a piece of my mind on how inappropriate this is.

    ReplyDelete
  22. M R27 November 2017 at 02:28

    Still awaiting for our bank to trigger the refund from the fraudsters.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Cryst27 November 2017 at 03:42

    Same here! Since we paid for months ago, its not that easy to get any refund. We paid for the 2nd Dec tickets.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Unknown27 November 2017 at 14:48

    We contacted the local press and they saw something in our booking page screenshot that we missed - that there’s a time stamp from Africa / Azerbaijan. So the latest update is that this is possibly a new type of scam, except there’s no Nigerian prince and million dollar inheritance. �� https://www.facebook.com/MothershipSG/posts/1708574625848849

    ReplyDelete

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