Tavern On The Green's Halloween Fiasco

How to Get Your Money Back From The Party That Wasn't

We're sure by now you've heard about the Halloween party billed as "Halloween on the Green" that was shut down before it barely got started.

This is not the way "Halloween on the Green" was supposed to have turned out! Thousands of costumed revelers showed up and not many of them got in before cops shut it down. The bash was oversold! The event was the brainchild of a company called Alex and Leo Entertainment.

Daniel, Lauren and Jenelle were just some of the partygoers who shelled out big bucks for this night.

Daniel - "There was basically the sense that nobody knows whats going on, so we're just standing in a crowd of thousands of people waiting to find out if we're gonna get in at all tonite..."

Lauren - " We were waiting there in line from 9;30 PM until 12;30 AM, I got pushed,, I was all the way in the front, there was one security guard , he just stood there, I asked him what was going on, he cursed me out."

Jenelle - "By the time we reached the party, all you saw was New York police everywhere, there was no security guards, there was no one from Tavern, there were no promotors, nothing."

This is not what Tavern on the Green had in mind for Halloween either. This has not been the best year for them. Ownership has lost it's lease, and the Central Park landmark is due to close down at the end of the year.

By Sunday Help Me Howard was already receiving complaints via e-mail and the hotline from irate partygoers, who payed, but never got a chance to play!

Tavern on the Green told Howard that Alex & Leo Entertainment was responsible for selling the tickets. They admitted they were partly responsible for the security that night, but said no one was prepared for the huge number of people that turned out due to allegations of counterfeit tickets.

Alex and Leo Entertainment promoted the event, selling tickets online and also through other party promotors. But after the Halloween fallout, they were nowhere to be found. Cellphones and voicemails remained full and no one could contact them.

Howard paid a visit to their offices in Queens with no luck and attempts to reach them via email went unanswered.

During this time Howard began getting calls and emails from other promotors, who had also sold tickets to the event, saying they were more then happy to refund money to their customers, so a payback plan began hatching.

At this time Alex and Leo Entertainment released a joint statement with Tavern on the Green:

"The Halloween event was ruined when hundreds of partygoers - unknowingly holding counterfeit tickets - arrived two hours early for the event, creating long lines for admission and depriving many revelers holding legitimate tickets entry to Tavern on the Green. Fortunately, there were no reported injuries at the event, but the New York Police Department shut down the party at about 1:30 AM - before the situation became unsafe."

"We have promoted thousands of parties in New York since 1994 and this is the first time something like this has happened. Advances in photocopying and internet commerce, counterfeit tickets have become a real problem in the industry. We will be modifying our ticket sale policies to avoid such a situation in the future. We are truly sorry for the inconvenience this situation has caused our customers."

Alex & Leo Entertainment will be responsible for organizing the refunds requested by valid ticket holders through the following procedures:

If patrons paid for tickets with a credit card or via Paypal, may request a refund directly from the online ticket seller or their credit card company.

Those who bought valid tickets using cash should email their refund requests to Halloweenrefund@gmail.com. Each request MUST include a copy of the ticket(s) purchased, together with the place and date of purchase, as well as the ticket holder's mailing address.

Alex & Leo Entertainment will process each request within four weeks of receipt.