Ultra Music Festival, Miami sued for withholding ticket refunds

Event Entertainment Group, the umbrella company behind Miami’s Ultra Music Festival, has been sued in a new, eight-count class-action suit.

According to a recent report from the Miami Herald, the latest suit, filed by Corwin Law in Boca Raton, is seeking damages in excess of $15,000 for a number of clients who purchased tickets to the “postponed” 2020 Ultra Music Festival.

The lawsuit, which was filed late last month in the 11th Judicial Circuit in Miami-Dade County, states that Event Entertainment Group promised ticket holders who bought tickets for the March 20-22, 2020, that in lieu of a refund, their tickets could be transferred to the 2021 or 2022 versions of the festival. According to the lawsuit, Ultra allegedly promised ticket holders an enhanced benefits package for the 2021 festival instead of giving refunds.

“It is totally unconscionable for the promoters to withhold refunds for two plus years, and for the City of Miami to allow it, with no guarantees that this event will be able to take place in 2022 or 2023,” attorney Marcus Corwin told the Herald. Corwin filed the suit on behalf of Gabrielle Petroka and other Florida residents who purchased tickets to the 2020 Ultra Music Festival.

In May last year, Florida residents Samuel Hernandez and Richard Montoure issued a lawsuit against Ultra, after being denied refunds for their tickets to the festival. Then men spent $3000 dollars and $1032.02 respectively on tickets. In a 25-page document, both men outlined their attempts to seek refunds for their tickets but were told that Ultra would only offer compensation tickets for either the 2021 or 2022 edition of the festival. 

At the time of filing, it was reported that Ultra’s ticket policy does specify that refunds can be given at the festival’s discretion, maintaining that it is up to its “sole and absolute discretion to either issue full or partial refunds to purchaser, not issue any refunds, or reschedule the Event.”