Unhappy Okahomans paid up to $50 to see hot air balloons, a car show, and other weekend fun. Instead, all they got was hot air.
Customers are now fighting to get their money back after the Stillwater Balloon Festival ended up being a non-event. Ticket holders were greeted with an empty field when they arrived in Yale on April 9-11.
"Do not waste your time. 2 vendors. 1 BBQ food truck. 1 hot rod car. We spent ~$50 in tickets to drive from Enid to sit and watch people fly kites . We were there ~4 hours and maybe there were 100 people. Do not waste your time. What’s weird was that this should have been the best day to have this, yet there were no vendors?! Why? The weather was good. If even the balloons couldn’t go up where were the vendors, cars,and food trucks?" wrote Rebecca Duncan-Decocq on the event's Facebook page.
Other customers said it felt like they were scammed.
“Everyone is mainly upset. To feel like you were just kind of duped out is not a good feeling," Amy Pierce told KFOR.
Event organizer Kevin Anderson sent a letter to the TV station saying that the hot air balloon didn't take off because of "inclement weather" and that he won't offer refunds.
"FOR THOSE WHO PURCHASED TICKETS TO THE 2021 REDBUD BALLOON FESTIVAL WITHOUT READING THE REFUND POLICY, I ENCOURAGE YOU TO THOROUGLY READ THE POLICIES FOR THE TICKETS YOU ARE PURCHASING," Anderson said in the letter.
Other businesses and organizations are trying to distance themselves from what happened. Mugsy's Grubhouse rented out the field to Anderson, but the restaurant said on Facebook that it wasn't affiliated with the event.
Event flyers had Folds of Honor's logo on it, but the nonprofit told KFOR it's not affiliated with the festival and was never notified that they would receive funds from the event.
Photo: Getty Images