A mum of one from Liverpool had her plans for a 'lovely night out' with a close friend ruined after opening an email.
Nikki Dransfield, 51, and Mandy Gilfoyle had bought tickets for a murder mystery-style event in Liverpool City Centre this Saturday, where they would be part of a 12-person jury deciding the guilt of fictitious suspects charged with murder. The pair, both avid fans of true crime documentaries, booked onto the event six months ago, and then began planning a big night out in Liverpool centred around the event, called The Murder Trial Live.
She told the ECHO : "We both love watching criminal documentaries and things like that, so we thought it would be fun and thought it was ideal- we'd do that then have a lovely night out in Liverpool afterwards. It was nearly six months ago that we booked it and we were really looking forward to it.
READ MORE: Mystery knitter finally revealed as town falls in love with latest postbox topper
"We were booking restaurants where we could go afterwards and looking for places where we could go for cocktails."
However, on Wednesday, Nikki was shocked to receive an email from the company running the event informing her of a last minute cancellation due to 'unforeseen circumstances'. She said: "It wasn't even personalised and it just said 'dear valued customer' and that due to unforeseen events they had to cancel the event.
"The email didn't even give the date of the event which I was going to so it was just a generic email that said we'll be getting in touch later on this summer about re-booking your tickets or a possible refund if you're eligible. At the time I thought what do they mean if I'm eligible- they cancelled on me."
Nikki looked into the reputability of the company behind the event, which had charged her over £60 for her ticket for the event that was apparently one of 12 throughout the country.
She said: "I went on Google and found TripAdvisor reviews of people complaining that they'd been waiting two years to get their money back. I went onto the company website and found that you can still buy tickets for the Liverpool event [which they'd apparently cancelled]."
The next day she arrived at work and delivered the bad news to Mandy.
Nikki said: "We were talking about it and how disappointed we were. Then we decided to do our own digging and went on Companies House and found that the company was dormant and we realised we'd been ripped off.
"We still thought there might be a chance to get out tickets back or that it will be rescheduled but the more we looked into it the more we thought this is not adding up. When I looked on the TripAdvisor reviews there was stuff going back to before covid, people were saying that they'd got an email to reschedule and that it'd happened three times and that the event had never come off.
"There's still people waiting since before covid for their refunds, and when they try and get in touch no one responds to their emails and no one answers their calls."
Nikki was devastated, but wanted to spread the spread the word to prevent other people booking the event. She said: "I'm not at all hopeful that I'll get the refunds through."
The event was apparently due to take place at the Holiday Inn on Lime Street, however the hotel said it had not taken any such booking for any of its conference rooms.
The ECHO approached Murder Trial Live for comment. Their website now displays a banner apologising for shows cancelled, and says that all shows cancelled due to covid have now been refunded.
The statement read: "We recognise that through the COVID period it has been very difficult for The Murder Trial Live to operate and deliver the customer service our valued guests expect. We have released the rights to World on Fire Events who will take over the promotion and delivery of this incredible and immersive live show concept, securing its future free from covid related brand damage.
"We hope that by distancing the show experience from The Murder Trial Live that our guests will see the start of a new direction for this live show. With a change in leadership and direction we hope you will support the cast and crew moving forwards.
"We are sorry for any failings on the part of The Murder Trial Live in not being able to act timely -its safe to say COVID-19 has finally killed The Murder Trial Live. World on Fire Events will pick up the delivery and production of all live shows."
