ComplaintsforThe Atlanta Foundation for Public Spaces, LLC

• Initial Complaint

  03/31/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I paid $300 to be a vendor at The Turtle Creek Spring Arts Festival, which was scheduled for April 11-12, 2020. The event organizer Mr. ******* *. *** postponed numerous times the event and he later postponed the event to April 9-10, 2022. The event never occurred before and Mr. ******* *. *** has refused to refund my money. Mr. ******* *. Fox's business is The Atlanta Foundation for Public Spaces, LLC (DBA The Turtle Creek Spring Arts Festival), and may be found online at http://www.affps.com/ I have attached the receipt I paid via https://www.zapplication.org/ and the agreement at the time of payment. On November 3rd, 2021, I emailed Mr. *** to request a cancellation and a refund. (Not requested transfer my credits to other events) At that time, the new date for the event was April 9, 2022, more than 5 months prior to the event. However, He refused to honor the written vendor agreement, and repeated the phrase, “Stay Safe and we will see you in 2022.” In subsequent emails to him, Mr. *** indicated that I consented to new terms concerning the written vendor agreement, but that was not case. I have never agreed to waive my right to demand a refund. Therefore, in February 2022, I requested that he refund my money, but he only lied by indicating I had previously accepted new terms regarding the written vendor agreement. Prior to and after November 3, 2021 when I requested a refund, he has never offered a new refund agreement and there is no agreement I have made other than the one I have attached. The refunds stated in the agreement are as follows. “Cancellations must be made submitted in written form by mail or email before 30 days prior to the event. By mail: send to PO Box 422571, Atlanta GA 30342. By email: to [email protected]. No refunds will be given for cancellations less than 30 days prior to the event date or for no-shows. All refunds will incur a $ 10 admin fee, as our agreement with Zapp.”

  Business response

  04/13/2022

  In response to Ms. ********* complaint #********

   

  This is simply a demonstration of ****** ********* refusal to follow instructions as detailed and then act in a manner that is consistent with her behavior/demands.

   

  Ms. ******* sent a total of 36 emails and the message from our team remained consistent the instructions were repeatedly provided, and Ms. ******* felt those guidelines did not apply to her.

   

  I have included Ms. ******* in this communication, we consider the matter closed.

   

   

  ******* *. Fox

  AFFPS

  Customer response

  04/14/2022

  I did not send Mr. *** 36 emails. I sent him 25 emails regarding refunds between November 3, 2021 and February 26, 2022. If he had refunded me according to the agreement, I would not have had to repeatedly email requests for a refund, and I would not have needed to ask other agencies for assistance.
  
  Mr. *** sent me 23 emails from November 4, 2021 to March 4, 2022.
  However, his replies repeated the same thing over and over again. Even in February, Mr. *** still restated the same lines almost four times every minute. The following is what was repeatedly said:                                                                                               "I have already addressed this. / Have a safe Holiday - Stay Safe."

  
  When I continuously asked about my credits and refunds, he did not explain. Moreover, I have never received any instructions from Mr. Fox.
  
  Vendors applied to this event via Zapplication, and they paid the vendor fee. On March 4, 2022, I confirmed with the Zapplication manager by email that after the pandemic the event organizer would need to submit new instructions in order to ensure participation from vendors. However, Mr. *** seems to have no record of sending any instructions to vendors via ZAPP.
  
  Since this event was postponed until after the pandemic, I received an email from Mr. *** about vendor credits via Zapplication (as attached).

  The following is what was sent:                                                                                                                                                      "If you are not able to join us in 2021… then we will keep extending the invitation until it works with your schedule, no matter how long it takes.” Therefore, my credit has not expired, and this case should not be closed until Mr. *** refunds me.
  
  If other vendors also did not receive instructions, I believe that they may have faced similar issues (e.g. inconsistent communication, unprofessionalism, excuses, etc.) when attempting to obtain a refund.
  
  Mr. *** has never proved when he sent me instructions, and he has never proved how he sent me instructions. For that reason, Mr. *** should refund my $300 immediately.

  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** *******

  Customer response

  05/03/2022

  Additional response,

   

  April 13, 2022, Mr. *** sent an email directly to me and the BBB. And he copied my past words as below and claimed that I agreed with something.

   

  > Mon, Feb 8, 2021 at 1:07 PM

  > I understand,

  > Please be safe, too.

   

  This email starts with my question about my credit, but he avoided answering it and talked about Covid. (As attached) There is no instruction from Mr. *** even in this e-mail communication. If he couldn't prove the instructions he sent to me, I think he lied to me, lied to Zapplication, and lied to BBB as well.

   

  On February 26, 2022, I received an email from Mr. *** containing the following sentence.

  "All participating artists are doing as instructed. Nevertheless, you are not."

   

  If Mr. *** sent the instructions directly to other vendors and didn't send them to me, I need an explanation for that. Because I do not accept any level or type of discrimination.

   

  I want him to prove the instructions with non-editable evidence, not cut and copy.

   

  If he keeps holding my $300 without responding to me, I feel like he stole my $300.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩