Cancellation & postponement

This policy explains what happens to your ticket if an event is cancelled, postponed, or rescheduled — when you get your money back, how much, and how quickly. It applies to paid tickets and free reservations you make through Festro. It is part of, and additional to, the Terms of service; for how reservations and payments work generally, see Terms section 5.

It helps to know who does what. The organizer runs the event, sets its price and its refund rules, and decides whether to cancel or move it. Festro provides the ticketing and processes the payment and any refund through our payment provider, Stripe. When you buy a ticket, your contract for admission is with the organizer; Festro handles the money around it. Nothing in this policy takes away a right you have under Québec consumer-protection law.

If the organizer cancels an event, every attendee who paid is automatically refunded in full. You do not need to ask, file a claim, or do anything — the refund goes back to the card or payment method you used.

"In full" means the whole amount you paid, including Festro's service fee. Festro keeps nothing on a cancelled event. The only cost that is not returned is Stripe's payment-processing fee (about 2.9% + C$0.30 per ticket), which Stripe does not give back when a charge is refunded — and that cost is borne by the organizer, not by you. You are made whole.

Free reservations are simply released — there is nothing to refund. Your ticket and its QR code stop being valid once the event is cancelled.

Where a refund is owed, it is paid within 15 days, in keeping with Québec law. If for any reason a refund you are clearly owed is not paid, you keep the right to dispute the charge with your card issuer — see section 4.

Sometimes an organizer moves an event to a new date instead of cancelling it. When that happens, your existing ticket stays valid and carries over to the new date — you don't need to re-book, and your QR code still works.

If you can't make the new date, whether you can get a refund depends on the organizer's published refund policy (see section 5) — but you are always entitled to a refund where a postponement, reschedule, or other change to the event is significant (for example a different date you cannot attend, a different venue, or a materially different line-up from what was advertised). A change like that is treated as the event not being delivered as promised, and you may opt out and be refunded rather than only being offered the new date.

To request a refund on a postponed or rescheduled event, use the Get help / Request a refund option on your ticket, or contact the organizer through the event page. The organizer should respond promptly. Where a refund is owed, it is paid within 15 days to your original payment method, on the same all-in basis as a cancellation (you are made whole, including Festro's fee).

How you'll hear about it. Organizers are required to let you know promptly — by email and in the app — if their event is cancelled, postponed, moved to a new venue, or changed in a way that affects your ticket, and to tell you your refund or carry-over options. We pass those notices on to you at the contact details on your account, so keep them current.

Refunds are always issued to the original payment method — the same card or wallet you paid with. We can't send a refund to a different card or as cash.

Festro starts the refund through Stripe as soon as the refund is due (immediately and automatically when an organizer cancels). Where a refund is owed, the amount leaves Festro within 15 days. After that, how long it takes to appear on your statement is up to your bank or card issuer — typically a few business days, sometimes up to a billing cycle. We have no control over that final step.

• Cancelled event — automatic, full refund (including Festro's fee). No action needed.
• Postponed / rescheduled — your ticket carries over; request a refund if you can't attend, per the organizer's policy and your rights in section 3.
• A change that's significant — you can opt out and be refunded rather than keep the new ticket.

Chargebacks. If you believe you're owed a refund that hasn't been paid, please contact us first at [email protected] — we can usually sort it out faster than a bank dispute. That said, where a refund is genuinely owed and not paid, you keep your right under Québec law to dispute the charge with your card issuer. Please don't dispute a charge for a ticket you actually used or a refund you've already received — that's treated as fraud and can lead to your account being suspended.

Apart from cancellations and significant changes, each organizer sets its own refund and exchange policy — for example whether a change-of-mind refund is available, and up to when. Where an organizer publishes such a policy, it appears on the event page; otherwise, ask the organizer through the event page before you buy. The all-in price you see — ticket price plus any service fee and taxes, in Canadian dollars — is the total you pay.

An organizer's policy can be more generous than this one, but it can't take away the protections above. No "all sales final" or "no refunds" rule overrides your right to a full refund when an event is cancelled or is not delivered as promised, or your right to be refunded within 15 days. If an organizer's published policy ever conflicts with those rights or with Québec law, your legal rights and this policy win.

Two related cases sit in their own flows rather than here: if you simply can't attend and want to pass your ticket on, see transfer and resale; if a sold-out event has a waitlist, a resold ticket refunds the original buyer automatically. Organizers' own payout, fee, and cancellation-cost obligations are set out in the Organizer payments agreement.

Questions about a refund, a cancelled event, or a date change? Email [email protected] and include your order or event details so we can help quickly. For how we handle your personal information, see our Privacy policy.