>Federal Minister for Consumer Affairs Rob Beenders (Vooruit) is fighting against the system of expensive prepaid cards, tokens and wristbands as a means of payment at large events.
>At many large festivals, visitors are forced to pay with digital coins or tokens. These need to be loaded onto a wristband or prepaid card – a system that has drawn much criticism in Belgium for costing festival-goers money as well as being unnecessarily convoluted.
>Now, Beenders wants to know from their organisers why they do not just let visitors pay with their bank card or mobile phone. Additionally, he does not understand why organisers charge fees – which are “often excessive,” he said – to recover unused money on a prepaid card.
>While the Ministry of Economy published guidelines on refunds at events and festivals last year, Beenders believes that they do not go nearly far enough; he wants it to be no longer possible to make a profit on prepaid cards. Now, charges worth a maximum of one consumption, usually around €3.5, are seen as fair.
>Last year, consumer protection organisation Testachats also filed a complaint with the Economic Inspectorate against ten festivals for breaches of consumer law. It concerned Couleur Café, Paradise City, Graspop, Rock Werchter, Pukkelpop, Tomorrowland, Ronquières, Lokerse Feesten, Les Ardentes and Dour.
>”In 2023, the refund fee was investigated by the Federal Economy Ministry at the request of then-State Secretary Alexia Bertrand (Open VLD). After investigation, it was stated that the fee is not disproportionate,” said Nele Bigaré of Live Nation, which organises the popular summer festival Rock Werchter, among others. She also said she is available for consultation with the minister.
>If consultations do not yield anything in the coming months, Beenders threatens harsh measures, such as a ban on prepaid cards. However, there is currently no agreement on this in the new Federal Government, he clarified.
What a pressing issue!
Finally, begone cost of living crisis !
It’s mostly the fee to get refunded, and the fact it does not happen automatically, which is the real shitty move by the industry.
I get they want people to use a wristband or whatever, because setting up bank card terminals everywhere, hoping they don’t fail, and paying the fees on them, is not a good thing for anyone. Creating physical tokens each year is also expensive, and results in a lot of plastic waste.
But the Live Nations then created the wireless payment systems, and then said “well what if we also charged people extra to use them so we can make even more profit on top of our savings!!!”. If they didn’t do that, and just refunded any remaining funds back to the visitor, there would have been a lot less complaining. Because as a festival goer, I also don’t like carrying around a bunch of plastic coins, but I also don’t want to get out my bank card in a crowded area…
Seeing the excessive prices of festivals these days.
A mere 10 years ago, festivals were a cheap getaway for youth.
Nowadays it’s cheaper to book a 2-way flight and a 4 star hotel in spain for 3 days.
If i’m paying 500 euros for a 3-day trip, let me at least have indoor plumbing and an actual good meal.
It was absolutely disgusting.
In Werchter you could only charge your wristlet with certain amounts of money, and when you had money left on your wristlet after the festival was over, you had to pay to get your money back.
The refund cost is a solution to a problem they created, they’re selling you air.
Regardless, you have Worldline as payment provider in Belgium with far more stable and proven systems than whatever Livenation created.
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>Federal Minister for Consumer Affairs Rob Beenders (Vooruit) is fighting against the system of expensive prepaid cards, tokens and wristbands as a means of payment at large events.
>At many large festivals, visitors are forced to pay with digital coins or tokens. These need to be loaded onto a wristband or prepaid card – a system that has drawn much criticism in Belgium for costing festival-goers money as well as being unnecessarily convoluted.
>Now, Beenders wants to know from their organisers why they do not just let visitors pay with their bank card or mobile phone. Additionally, he does not understand why organisers charge fees – which are “often excessive,” he said – to recover unused money on a prepaid card.
>While the Ministry of Economy published guidelines on refunds at events and festivals last year, Beenders believes that they do not go nearly far enough; he wants it to be no longer possible to make a profit on prepaid cards. Now, charges worth a maximum of one consumption, usually around €3.5, are seen as fair.
>Last year, consumer protection organisation Testachats also filed a complaint with the Economic Inspectorate against ten festivals for breaches of consumer law. It concerned Couleur Café, Paradise City, Graspop, Rock Werchter, Pukkelpop, Tomorrowland, Ronquières, Lokerse Feesten, Les Ardentes and Dour.
>”In 2023, the refund fee was investigated by the Federal Economy Ministry at the request of then-State Secretary Alexia Bertrand (Open VLD). After investigation, it was stated that the fee is not disproportionate,” said Nele Bigaré of Live Nation, which organises the popular summer festival Rock Werchter, among others. She also said she is available for consultation with the minister.
>If consultations do not yield anything in the coming months, Beenders threatens harsh measures, such as a ban on prepaid cards. However, there is currently no agreement on this in the new Federal Government, he clarified.
What a pressing issue!
Finally, begone cost of living crisis !
It’s mostly the fee to get refunded, and the fact it does not happen automatically, which is the real shitty move by the industry.
I get they want people to use a wristband or whatever, because setting up bank card terminals everywhere, hoping they don’t fail, and paying the fees on them, is not a good thing for anyone. Creating physical tokens each year is also expensive, and results in a lot of plastic waste.
But the Live Nations then created the wireless payment systems, and then said “well what if we also charged people extra to use them so we can make even more profit on top of our savings!!!”. If they didn’t do that, and just refunded any remaining funds back to the visitor, there would have been a lot less complaining. Because as a festival goer, I also don’t like carrying around a bunch of plastic coins, but I also don’t want to get out my bank card in a crowded area…
Seeing the excessive prices of festivals these days.
A mere 10 years ago, festivals were a cheap getaway for youth.
Nowadays it’s cheaper to book a 2-way flight and a 4 star hotel in spain for 3 days.
If i’m paying 500 euros for a 3-day trip, let me at least have indoor plumbing and an actual good meal.
It was absolutely disgusting.
In Werchter you could only charge your wristlet with certain amounts of money, and when you had money left on your wristlet after the festival was over, you had to pay to get your money back.
The refund cost is a solution to a problem they created, they’re selling you air.
Regardless, you have Worldline as payment provider in Belgium with far more stable and proven systems than whatever Livenation created.
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