Patrons of the recently wrapped up Cafe Fest Singapore have been taking to the internet to complain about the organiser's failure to deliver promises of passholder exclusivity.
According to the website of the two-day festival that involved 12 local cafes setting up pop-up shops at the Marina Bay Waterfront, regular and VIP passholders — who paid $25 and $30 each, respectively — were entitled to exclusive entry into the event along with various vouchers, F&B discounts and other goodies from Uber and Spotify. VIPs could gain entry to sheltered tents and reserved space to watch live music performances.
The passholders were in for a unpleasant surprise when it turned out that the festival was open to the public for free, leading to painfully long queues and sold out wares. The discounts promised only shaved off $1 from the coffee prices and everyone seemed to be able to get access to the VIP lounge.
The Cafe Fest Singapore Facebook page was almost immediately flooded with complaints, all expressing disappointment and fierce calls for compensation. One Paul Yen called the event “a total scam’ and publicly regretted purchasing “some NON-EXISTENT EXCLUSIVE festival pass”.
Cafe Fest Singapore responded to the backlash after the event’s first day, apologising for the oversight on their part, caused by being "too caught up with the preparations". The post also hinted at compensation.
Despite this, and the fact that changes, such as one-for-one coffee promotions and a shutdown of sales to the public, were made to the rest of the weekend event, folks are still not having it. One customer has expressed her intention to file a report with the Consumers Association of Singapore or even the police if full refunds are not made. Another suggests the money she's spent on tickets could've paid for a "rather good lunch" while yet another has 'commended' the organisers for outdoing themselves in terms of volume of backlash.
Photo: Cafe Fest Singapore event page
Read Also: Cafe hopping is officially a thing now — there's a festival for it in September
Patrons of the recently wrapped up Cafe Fest Singapore have been taking to the internet to complain about the organiser's failure to deliver promises of passholder exclusivity.
According to the website of the two-day festival that involved 12 local cafes setting up pop-up shops at the Marina Bay Waterfront, regular and VIP passholders — who paid $25 and $30 each, respectively — were entitled to exclusive entry into the event along with various vouchers, F&B discounts and other goodies from Uber and Spotify. VIPs could gain entry to sheltered tents and reserved space to watch live music performances.
The passholders were in for a unpleasant surprise when it turned out that the festival was open to the public for free, leading to painfully long queues and sold out wares. The discounts promised only shaved off $1 from the coffee prices and everyone seemed to be able to get access to the VIP lounge.
The Cafe Fest Singapore Facebook page was almost immediately flooded with complaints, all expressing disappointment and fierce calls for compensation. One Paul Yen called the event “a total scam’ and publicly regretted purchasing “some NON-EXISTENT EXCLUSIVE festival pass”.
Cafe Fest Singapore responded to the backlash after the event’s first day, apologising for the oversight on their part, caused by being "too caught up with the preparations". The post also hinted at compensation.
Despite this, and the fact that changes, such as one-for-one coffee promotions and a shutdown of sales to the public, were made to the rest of the weekend event, folks are still not having it. One customer has expressed her intention to file a report with the Consumers Association of Singapore or even the police if full refunds are not made. Another suggests the money she's spent on tickets could've paid for a "rather good lunch" while yet another has 'commended' the organisers for outdoing themselves in terms of volume of backlash.
Photo: Cafe Fest Singapore event page
Read Also: Cafe hopping is officially a thing now — there's a festival for it in September