A WOMAN still waiting for a refund after the date of a balloon festival in Worcester was changed has said she's angry at the situation.

Festival goers were given the option to claim their money back after Worcester Balloon Festival was postponed amid concerns that Worcester Racecourse was too waterlogged for the event to go ahead as planned in May.

Those who had already booked tickets for the original date could either keep the tickets or request a refund.

However, there was a cut-off date for refunds, which was May 18.

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Yolanda Dimambro spent £60 on Worcester Balloon Festival tickets and initially tried to move prior engagements around to see if her family could make it.

But after deciding she could not attend the new festival date, she was shocked when ticket provider Skiddle refused to refund her because the cut-off date had passed.

Ms Dimambro said: "It is quite annoying because we have received no response whatsoever from Worcester Balloon Festival, and Skiddle said there was a cut-off date for refunds which was sent by the event, but I haven't received anything."

Despite her concerns, organiser David Bailey, from Worcester Balloon Festival, said the event has issued thousands of refunds and has also given money back to those who have contacted them to say they missed the cut-off date.

Mr Bailey said: "We have given out over 3,000 refunds, and those who have missed the cut-off dates have been refunded." 

He pointed out that there does need to be a refund cut-off point, and said some other events have no refund policy at all.

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This week, the festival has warned customers to be careful with resale tickets - saying they do not accept responsibility for any issues.

Mr Bailey said the company was afraid of people falling victim to resale scams after noticing a few people were trying to sell tickets on the events Facebook page.

However, Ms Dimambro says this leaves her in a difficult position. 

She said: "We cannot resell the tickets because no one wants to buy them and the festival is now warning against resale tickets.

"It makes me quite angry and families who cannot afford to do nice things often are out of pocket."

Ms Dimambro has seen support from others, via social media, about how refunds have been handled.

One customer added: "I didn't receive my refund as well.

"Organisers did not reply to my messages."


Ms Dimambro added: "I just want organisers to reply to people and I wished they had put up a Facebook post to tell people there was a cut-off date for refunds."

The Worcester Balloon Festival is set to take place on June 23 and 24.