THE Isle of Man Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has been unable to make direct contact with the organisers of the Bay Festival.
In the House of Keys this morning it was revealed that staff from the OFT had even called at the home address of organiser Jonathan Irving but to no avail.
Bill Henderson MHK, chairman of the OFT, said it had been "quite tricky" making contact with the organisers despite the efforts of his officers.
He explained: "I want to put out a call in public to Mr Irving or the Bay Festival to contact the Office of Fair Trading so that we can get out some additional information to the public.
"The OFT has been left to champion the cause of the people who have bought tickets.
"We have made every effort to contact the Bay Festival and Mr Irving at his home address and at this point we have had no personal contact from either."
Mr Henderson said it was the office's wish to get some clarification out to the public regarding refunds.
He added: "It needs to be said that we are not representing in any way the interests of the operators of the Bay Festival in any way whatsoever."
Replying to a question from Peel MHK Tim Crookall regarding refunds for ticket holders Mr Henderson said that a contract had been formed when money changed hands to purchase a ticket.
He also said that HMV had been acting only as ticketing agents and were not holding any ticket money.
Mr Henderson added: "The money went to the Bay Festival. I would strongly advise people to follow the instructions given on the official Bay Festival website."
Rushen MHK Graham Cregeen suggested that anyone who did not have proof of delivery of a letter claiming a refund might not get any money after the cut-off date (June 17).
Mr Henderson replied: "This is a good point. I would advise that anyone claiming a refund must have some sort of proof of delivery of the document requesting the refund."
Rushen MHK Quintin Gill asked what efforts the OFT officers had made to contact the festival organisers. He said: "It's a small Island, I'm surprised the OFT has not been able to find Mr Irving - the media seems to have been able to speak to him."
Mr Henderson refuted the suggestion his officers had not done everything in their power to speak directly to Mr Irving or the organisers.
In reply to a comment by Rushen MHK Juan Watterson Mr Henderson also added that, to the best of his knowledge, the Bay Festival organisers had not been trading while insolvent.
Also see: Organisers claim Bay Festival ticket holders can get refunds
OFT issues further statement on Bay Festival
