Giant Village to Give Refunds

In my opinion no matter what, they should of have a alternate plan for the event or else don't be printing "rain or shine" on the tickets. I was looking forward to this party for long time. This really sucked!!! Messed up my New Year Eve, and also I got the event canceled email around 10:30pm on New Year eve, what the hell was that!! If they could notify earlier, we could of plan for other parties. Luckly I'm from Los Angeles area, it's really messed up for those who came from outta town and booked the hotel for this event. And what so ridiculous about the event organizer is that they are trying to give the excuse of that they were forced to cancel the event by the LAFD!! LAFD has issued news release that the event was canceled based on the event organizer's decision. Well anyways, I think Giant just earned a bad reputation from this incidents, hopefully they can learn from it.

I have to agree that in my opinion what they have posted is not good enough. I am one of those unlucky people that flew into town for this event and was all geared up to go. Also, since we had spent so much money on airplane tickets, and hotel, we thought that we would use the rain in our favor and buy tickets off others who didn't want to go in the rain for $60 as opposed to the $80 the day of. We thought, no way this would cancel. It says rain or shine. So where does that leave us?? (I'm sure this is also the case for others as well.) We didn't go through groovetickets so we dont have an email, and the people that we bought our 6 tickets from have all mysteriously disappeared! To make matters worse, 2 of our tickets say it was comp tickets. We are more than pissed off they ruined our new years, they also took over $300 from us.

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=4541

I originally felt a small bit of sympathy for Dave Dean because of rumors that ticket sales had been bad. But if, in fact, response had been as good, if not better than, last year's, Dave Dean now looks like an even bigger idiot. What the hell is wrong with him???

I bought tickets through Virgin Megastore, they still have no information to give as far as refunds are concerned. When will the other outlets have more information?

I drove downtown newyears eve, so that's why it was so empty. L.A. needs to stop trying to be New York, New Yorkers are willing to stand outside in the snow just to watch a ball drop year after year. It rains out here, and everything shuts down.

As someone coming from out of town, we spent over $1500 in hotel, travel and food in anticipation for a great new year's eve party. We additionally feel guilty for enticing our friends to join us from all over the US as well. Who knows how much they spent. The refund of the ticket alone does not cover all the money the hotels and restaurants in LA has taken from us. I think LA has lost a lot of future tourists and locals for any future events.

> I would have been angry

if Dean had used rain as a cover to cancel for bad sales.

But if he knew GV would attract as many, if not more people, this year than last, why the hell did he suddenly become such a wussie? Is it because government officials, particularly at the fire dept, frightened him like a baby this year? If so, why didn't they make a similar fuss last year, when NYE also saw the threat of rain.

None of this makes any sense. Someone is lying or playing games with the truth.

Alot of this also depends on assuming the writer at americanchronicle.com knows what she's talking about. For all we know her figure of 20,000 may be dead wrong, and maybe only 5,000 tickets, for example, were sold by 6:00 pm NYE.

Ok, so maybe a class action suit is not the answer. But how else shall we safegaurd our city from ninnies that make middle aged decisions. I mean, living is dangerous...you could get hit by a bus tomorrow. People can get hurt even without a little rain. So, if anyone tries to tell you that it is not about the bottom line, remember that it is always always always about the bottom line. Therefore, since legal recourse need not be sought for ticket refunds, somehow someway there should be legal recourse for pain and suffering, lost entertainment opportunity, sexual dysfuncion from the shock of it all...whatever you want...so long as it ties Giant up with enough legal fees to drain their accounts. In a town that lives or dies by "the show must go on" (or is that just a stage thing in NY?), the event underwriter should never forget that the decision to cancel was made solely and entirely by Giant. The LAFD and the mayor have been playing CYA for a long time (that's cover your ass). Or course they're going to err on the side of caution. The key word being "err", because mirroring their position was undoubtedly an err(or).

Alternatively, where was the concern for the children in the rain at the Rose Parade? Where was the concern for the performers for that matter? Did they have a covered parade route to guard against a slip and fall? Of course not. What they had was sponsors and TV time. And we all know that advertising inventory trumps public safety. This brings me back to my original point that it is always always always about the bottom line, so don't believe that "oh, we're so devastated" crap. Giant's last public address states that they don't make money by cancelling events, however, the bottom line is not always about making money...sometimes it's about cutting losses.

For years the city of L.A. has grappled with establishing a centralized special event permitting process. Search council files 02-0088 and 99-1582 via the council file index for details on this stalled process: http://cityclerk.lacity.org/CFI/

Southern California Transit Advocates has tried to raise the whole bus detour issue relating to special events. Notice by the city is often sporadic and agencies doen't always do a good job of posting detour notices at effected stops.

Maybe one positive thing that could come from this unfortunate incident is if it spurs the city to try again to tackle how to bring some sense of order to events permitting.

Maybe you all should get a life. There is a war in Iraq, people are dying. But your silly asses are bitching like a bunch of spoiled brats. You got your refund. Get over it.

{{ You got your refund. Get over it. }}

Spoken like a dumb hick.

TO CHRIS: what ever happened to accountability?

It's an insult to compare a BAD EVENT promoter to a WAR. That's like saying people shouldn't be so upset about the 12 miners cause it's not like it's the tsunami. It's accountability that makes us civil. If we lose that, there's no hope for us all.

AND NO, NOT EVERYONE HAS RECEIVED A REFUND - VIRGIN MEGA STORE WON'T REFUND MY 3 TICKETS.

HERE'S TO GIANT CON 07!

Chris = David Dean... hum.....

Yeah, I have been having trouble with Virgin too! I always thought Virgin was top notch too... not anymore.

http://www.spundae.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=17201

> Dave Dean: "We made what we still believe was the right

decision based the determination from the Los Angeles Fire Department that the extreme weather conditions caused serious concern for public safety."

Dean's response makes me think of the milquetoasts who are so worried about even a hint of conflict they request that Christmas trees be called Holiday trees.

A bit of rain, a little pressure from LAFD wussies, and suddenly it's "CANCEL! CANCEL! CANCEL!"

Found this today on Virgin.net's website (ironically the same place we bought our tickets - who also refuse to refund us our money).

"The massive 'Giant Village' event in Los Angeles was called off due to torrential rain after safety officials warned that artists and spectators would be at risk if it went ahead.

(0.5 INCHES of RAIN IS TORRENTIAL? SEE INTERVIEW BELOW WHERE DAVID DEAN TALKS ABOUT IF IT RAINS)

Despite being given refunds, a number of the 15,000 ticket-holders are now threatening to sue the organisers, who had promised the event would go ahead "come rain or shine".

(DID ANYONE GET A REFUND YET? I SENT AN EMAIL, BUT HOW ARE THEY GOING TO REFUND ME THE MONEY WHEN I BOUGHT IT THROUGH VIGIN???)

Organiser Dave Dean said they had no choice, insisting: "The fire marshall felt not only would the rain cause a potential safety hazard to patrons, but, as well, the artists. Something terrible could have happened."

(DAVID DEAN, HAVE YOU SPOKEN TO THE LAFD LATELY? ARE YOU SURE YOU ARE SAYING IT WAS CAUSE THEY TOLD YOU THEY WOULD SHUT YOU DOWN???)

To me this sounds like Virgin is promoting the event producer's claim that he had no choice, but to cancel the event. Sounds like his PR people are working full time.

VIRGIN - YOU HAVE LOWERED YOURSELF TO DAVID DEAN'S STANDARDS AND HAVE LOST A LOT WITH THIS DEAL...)

INTERVIEW WITH DAVID DEAN ABOUT POTENTIAL RAIN:

Interviewer: Last year's event almost got rained out. If it does rain this year, what modifications will be made to the event?

Dave Dean: A lot of the stages are tented. The one thing about LA, for example it did rain at 10 on the day of New Years Eve. LA weather at it's worst is nothing to worry about. (FAMOUS LAST WORDS?)

Interviewer: (lol) "like Glastonbury in the UK, where everyone is in rain gear the whole time.

Dave Dean : that's right! My hope is that people will realize that party has been going on for 5 years, (OH REALLY?) and it always goes on! (NOT ACCORDING TO MY REALITY) We are very accommodating if people want to bring raingear, we have a huge coat check. We have been doing this for 5 years - when it was t-shirt weather, or when it was a little chilly, and we always have a great time. There are several indoor seated areas of this event. It's LA! (YEAH, MAYBE YOU SHOULD TRY ANOTHER STATE NEXT YEAR)

THE RAIN IN LA IS NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT, BUT BAD PR IS DAVID DEAN.

FOUND AT: http://undergroundmine.com/jc-giantvillage06.htm

I spoke to a nice gal at Groove Tickets, where I bought my VIP tickets to confirm they received the tickets i sent them to get my refund. I asked her "they're [Giant Village] going to reimburse you guys for these refunds, right?" and she said "no". I asked how that could be and she said "they don't have the money". What total slimeballs. Groove Tickets is refunding out of their own pocket and seem to be doing the best they can. Thought i'd share that with everyone.

I bought some tickets from the Craiglist and only two have face value of $80. The rest doesn't mention price, instead it is "comp". What does it mean? Are those complementory tickets so no value? I will not get any money back for those? Advice me please..I am stuck with 7 of those.

I would think anyone holding complimentary tickets shouldn't be able to get money back for them. If you paid nothing for them to begin with, you should receive nothing back for them when they're returned.

I agree. But I bought those tickets and paid average $65-$70 per ticket. Are there any complimentary tickets around like that? Do they give away cmplimentary tickets?

RM- I can't believe that story about Giant & Groove. INSANITY! I heard the AP & NYTIMES are doing an expose story on Giant & Fly-By-Night Promoters - CAN'T WAIT!!!

Why isn't the LAFD coming forward and telling us what really happened? How could David Dean & Giant be so screwed up????

I just got an email telling me to send my tickets to Giant and that they would give me back my money.. .is this a ploy to take my tickets so I have no proof for a refund??

Dave Dean is quoted in a craigslist posting as saying there won't be a make up concert.. what's up??? I hope every one remembers this next year when Giant tries to scam us again.

Don't shop at Virgin Mega Store anymore; they refuse to give us a refund.

Since the event cancellation was not ordered by the LAFD, and I have no personal insight, there's really and regretfully nothing more that I can offer you on this matter.

The decision to cancel was tendered by a private business enterprise, and we as a municipal agency, from the very outset, have politely pointed people to the event organizer's official website for an explanation and discourse.

We wish an amicable closure to all parties involved.

I sent my two VIP tickets to the Groovetickets office in LA before the deadline 1/5/06. I purchased two tickets from a Giant Village promoter and am therefore uneligible for a refund according to Carlos at Groovetickets (800) 884-7681. Is anyone filing a class action lawsuit against Giant or Groovetickets? I can't believe I got ripped off like this.

I purchased my tickets at the Virgin Mega Store. I requested refund information and then I somehow lost it. If anyone has the address where mail the tickets to please email it to me at Sawred420@aol.com. Thanx.

It looks like Los Angeles in the future having a big outdoor NYE event, which isn't exactly uncommon in many major cities throughout the world (many which hardly have ideal weather on December 31st) is kaput. Totally pathetic, for local partyers and downtown in particular:

http://www.lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=3132&IssueNum=136

Dean has plans to make right, pay his talent, and move downtown's Giant Village to July. "At the end of the day," he says, "it's a very cool location for an eve nt; we just need to take the weather factor out of it. We'll re-launch the Giant Village as an annual summer event, and do New Year's Eve at an indoor location. That's really all I can do."

The question asked by ticket-holders left out in the cold is whether the event's organizers pulled the plug at 4 p.m. on New Year's Eve to cut their losses as a result of possibly slow ticket sales...

He says the event sold nearly 12,000 presale tickets...

...presales were running about 8,000 to 8,500...

Yes, I sent out nine tickets to whatever PO box number they mentioned in email and no response since. No ph number etc, so how am I going to find out what the hell is going on? I sent email back and they didn't reply anymore. I sent through certified mail so at least I will find out who accept my letter. Like Tanya, some of my tickets were bough through promoters. So I will lose money for those? I am so disappointed. Let's do something to get our money back.

I sent my tickets back to Giant for a refund and I still haven't received a check. And they are not returning my emails. They are either assholes or incredibly unorganized.

I also did everything exactly as asked. I haven't received a refund, a confirmation, a phone call, nothing.

I think these guys are hoping that people wanting their money back will just eventually go away.

They're prepping for a legal quagmire - and the longer they take with this, the worse it will be for them.

If any of you out there ever received a refund, please post it here and I will do as well if I get my money back. Please stay informed each other on this board. So far for me, no phone call or email. But my certified mail was accepted so I know they have my tickets.

I'm going to call the Mayor's Office on Monday. I'm going to tell them that I am not the only person who has not received a refund from Giant.

I encourage everyone here to do the same.

If enough people call, I'm certain that not only will Giant be presured to obey the law, they may not be able to obtain city permits for future concerts in the city of Los Angeles, since they've acted in bad faith.

Personally, I wouldn't wish them on anyone - and feel I'm doing future vicitms of their bad planning, dishonest blame-everyone-but-themselves approach and poor organization.

And I can't imagine that any repsectable bands would want to be associated with a company that doesn't refund tickets for non-concerts.

Joshua,

Thank you for your effort regarding to this matter. Please keep us informed here on this board with the results. I will do the same thing.

Absolutely we can't let those mofos take away our money like this and should not let it happen in the future. We need to stand up and get united.

I finally got my refund in the mail today along with an offer for a discounted pass for future Giant events.

It's late (it's been over a month), but welcome.

Hope everybody here got the same or gets it soon.

i received my refund on Jan 9th. they credited back my credit card. i sent in my hard tickets to groove and emailed groove on the 3rd....fairly fast response time if you ask me.

My boyfriend and I didint get our refunds yet, and we are very concerned about it because we are going back to Brasil (were we live) in a month, so they must do something before that.

I send like 7, 8 or sometimes 11 e-mail messages for the giant news everyday and nobody answer me.

I dont know what to do to get my money back and we are REALLY pissed about it.

THEY SUCK!

Does anybody knows what should I do? Thanks!

Lisa, you need to contact whoever you bought your tickets from. if you got them from groove, email groove. if you got them from virgin, contact virgin, etc.. giant is not giving the refunds, its the place where you got the tickets from. emailing news@giantclub.com probably isnt going to help you.

Woh..I got my refunds today. I am so relieved now. I got full refunds for all my 9 tickets and a postcard for a t-shirt and giant premium membership for one year. You guys should expect your refunds soon.

Good luck to you all.

-eddy

For those of you who have got your refunds, can you please let us know when you sent your tix in, and with which vendor? I got my tickets at Benway, sent in my info and tix on Jan 11 and haven't gotten anything yet.

For those of you who have gotten a refund, can you let me know if it was groovetickets or virgin? Ours were virgin, and we had to send the email to news@giantclub.com to get the information on the refund. I'm assuming everyone here who got a refund was probably groovetickets, since they are doing their own refund.

I sent out my tickets on Jan 14, I think via certified mail. They didn't receive my letter until 2 weeks after. Tickets were purchased from Virgin mega store, not through groovetickets. If you buy from groovetickets, I think your refunds come in alot faster.

Eddy,

Did you get your refund yet?

Hello everyone!!

I have been in touch with a few attorneys to discuss the unfortunate situation many of us are in right now due the way Dave Dean and his corporation been handling ticket refunds for the cancelled Giant Village New Year's Eve event.

If you HAVE NOT received a refund for your tickets, we would like to hear from you.

Please read the questions below, and then please copy the questions below into an email (with your answers below them) and send to giantvillagecomplaints@gmail.com :

1. How many tickets did you purchase for Giant's CANCELLED NYE "Giant Village '05-'06" event?

2. Did you purchase regular or VIP tickets?

3. Where did you purchase your tickets?

4. What date did you mail back your tickets to Giant? How long have you been waiting for a response/refund?

5. Have you emailed their news@giantclub.com email address to follow up on your request? If so, how many times? And did you receive a response to any of your follow up emails.

6. Please include any other information specific to your situation here.

Please copy and send this message to your friends that are in the same situation as you, and please feel free to post this message on other message boards, blogs, myspace accounts etc. that might help spread the word, as we are looking for a strong response in order to pursue further action.

We know there are lots of folks that purchased tickets and HAVE NOT received a refund, and we want to hear your story.

Please email giantvillagecomplaints@gmail.com if you have further questions as well.

Thank you.

giantvillagecomplaints at gmail.com

213-362-4340 and davedean@giantclub.com: Please continue to blow up Dave Dean's phone and email inbox! He personally emailed me with this response on Thursday, Feb. 23:

First, I'm not sure why you never got a reply from the Giant account, but as we had to enter each refund manually, a few slipped through the cracks and I apologize.

Your refund is in a batch that was send to mail yesterday. If you do not receive this in the next few days, please let me know.

Again, I sincerely apologize for the wait and would be happy to put you on my guest list for any future Giant events.

Thanks, Dave

HOWEVER, the check that was supposedly mailed out on Wednesday with a certain batch NEVER got to me! It is Saturday (A FEW DAYS LATER AS DAVE INDICATED) and STILL NO CHECK! Mail that's coming from L.A. usually does NOT take 3 days! He's frickin' playing me! My wave of constant calls and emails continue until I get my refund! I highly recommend telling your story to local newspapers and news media! Dave Dean's reputation is shot, and the public has a right to know how unprofessional he is!

mann they should re inburse me for my hotel too!!!!!

As I understand it there's a lot of people out their ticket money and other expenses for the night. Dave Dean is still in business at the Avalon. Mr. Dean has not paid for his production for the event to this date. I am owed over $50,000.00 for the equipment and staff that we supplied and we were ready to have a show when the plug was pulled. Boycot The Bastard's Shows Boycot The Avalon Don't let them get away with it!!!

If you are a myspace member join the following group against Giant and help boycott their events

http://groups.myspace.com/giantclub

We just received this appalling letter from GIANT. Disgusting because:

• They actually expect us to sympathize with them because "the past 11 months has been frustrating" for them! Boo hoo. The reality is, if I knew of some (legal) way I could make life miserable for these people for (at least) 12 months, I would do it with pleasure.

• They had the gall to offer to settle the refund with tickets to this year's event. How insulting. So we essentially paid in 2005 to have those New Year's plans demolished and instead go to a crap New Year's Eve "event" a year later? Wow.

• They still cannot give a definitive timeframe for settling the refund. What can that mean? Another 11 months? How I wish this company was run by adults who could just own up to it and give us the respect of an honest estimate, even if it's distant.

This is a company that absolutely smacks of incompetence and hubris and doesn't even try to hide it. Instead of taking responsibility and acting in good faith, they've abused the patience, wallets, and dignity of those who had entrusted them with their hard-earned cash. Outrageous.

Original message:

According to our records, you are one of the few remaining GIANT Village ticket holders who has yet to receive your refund from the cancelled NYE 2006 event.

First, we sincerely apologize for the delay in processing your refund. As another NYE approaches, we have an exciting offer that we would like to extend to you in order to finally resolve this issue.

Second, we are willing to MAIL to you ticket(s) to the NYE 2007 Celebration: GIANT Maximus equal to the number of ticket(s) you purchased for NYE 2006. Please click on the link below and return the completed form as instructed by Wednesday, December 13, 2006. Forms received after this date will be invalid. Once your form is received, your new ticket(s) to GIANT Maximus will be sent to you via certified mail.

As an added bonus and to thank you for your patience, we are also willing to send you ticket(s) to see Steve Lawler at Vanguard on Saturday, December 30, 2006. Please indicate on your completed form if you would also like to attend this event.

If you chose not to accept this exchange offer, refunds will continue to be processed early next year. Although, we do guaranty refunds will be issued, we cannot give you a definitive time when they will be processed.

We know that the past 11 months has been frustrating, as it has been for us as well. We hope that you will accept this exchange offer so that we can start the New Year with this behind us.

Thank you sincerely for your cooperation and patience.

Kind Regards, Dave Dean

President, GIANT Los Angeles, Inc.

DISCLAIMER: Please note that receipt of this email does not guaranty qualification for this offer. Your information will be verified against our database and the final mailing of ticket(s) will be honored once your information is confirmed.

they didn't refund anything. i bought 8 tickets. well... i guess that's life.