LAMC Productions sent out a press statement (via TodayOnline) addressing “various complaints about the issues surrounding the Guns N’ Roses Not in This Lifetime Tour concert at the Changi Exhibition Centre” on February 25th.
The chief concern for concert-goers concerns was being refunded credits they had bought, and not used, for food and beverage at the show.
Concert-goers made payments for food and beverage using an iGo eWallet and Sandpiper Digital Payments Asia’s (SDP) Radio-frequency ID (RFID) wristbands. They used their credit or debit cards to buy credits pre-show, or bought credits at top-up stations at the venue. Their credits were linked to RFID wristbands which were linked to each concert-goer’s ticket. The wristbands were used for payments at the gig.
LAMC’s statement claimed that all payments at the show were handled by SDP and that any refunds for concert-goers from credit balances should be handled by that company.
“The digital payment system was entirely Sandpiper’s. Except for ticket sales handled by SISTIC, Sandpiper was the ‘merchant’ for all digital payments — pre-event and onsite during the event. This included collection of payments for food and beverage,” said the statement.
“Apart from ticket sales, the digital payment services provided by Sandpiper meant that they engaged with the paying concert-goer to receive their monies, deduct payments for food and beverage, hold the concert-goers’ data and naturally, effect refunds,” according to the statement.
“During the concert, and in the pre-event top-ups, concert-goers made payments to Sandpiper using credit/debit cards and cash onsite … All monies from the pre-event top-ups and onsite during the concert were therefore received and held by Sandpiper, not LAMC. In particular, Sandpiper, as the ‘merchant’ (much like a store or restaurant who transacts one’s credit card payments), had and has control of the concert-goers’ monies.”
LAMC therefore wanted SDP to handle refunds to concert-goers with unused balances from the show “without any further delay”.
LAMC claims that “Sandpiper has transferred to LAMC the cash collected from onsite top-ups during the event in one lump sum”.
But because there is no detailed break-down of what the cash is for, or who it is meant to go to, “LAMC, at this stage, does not know who to return the monies to”.
LAMC are now consulting their lawyers on how to move forward, the statement said.
In response, James Kane, director of SDP, said in a statement that “we have proposed a web based solution to the organiser for them to be able to start collecting customers refund applications, and are awaiting their feedback and acceptance”.
“At no point do Sandpiper Asia retain ownership of any funds collected on-site on behalf of any organiser,” the statement said.
It added that a solution has been proposed to LAMC, where it could offer customers an online portal in which each customer could enter their wristband serial number, see their remaining balance, enter their banking details and initiating the refund process.
“From there the organiser can begin to settle the outstanding customer balances.”