NBC 5 Responds has heard from nearly a dozen Steve Harvey fans seeking refunds for tickets they purchased for the 2020 Steve Harvey Sand & Soul Festival in the Dominican Republic, which was canceled in late August.
“I want my refund. That’s basically it” says Ronie Spencer.
Spencer is far from alone.
The weekend getaway, slated for Sept. 3-7, was officially canceled on Aug. 28. More than six weeks later, requests for refunds remain unanswered.
“Everyone who is requesting a refund, who has paid money for this trip for 2020 should be entitled to a refund, and people should not have to go through the to the length of contacting a television news station to get some redress to this,” Scorns Gail says.
Gail, along with her friends, Ronie, Debra and Pamela all bought tickets to the Caribbean party this year, after staying at the same Cancun hotel where it was held last year.
“They (fans) were coming in for that year’s Sand and Soul festival. Okay, and they just kept saying how wonderful it was and we should try to make it again this year,” says Debra.
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The four retired friends travel around the world together. From South Africa, Belize and Israel, they were excited to add a stamp from the Dominican Republic to their passport. Additionally, it was a chance to party with one of their favorite celebrities, comedian Steve Harvey.
“We all love Steve Harvey. Seen him on TV. He's so trustworthy warm and friendly he has a reputation. Everybody knows him. I never thought that it would come to this, never,” says Pam.
The four friends reached out to NBC 5 Responds after seeing our first story that aired on Sept. 3, when we introduced you to Genelle, Jemille, Jeanetta, Cortney, Tracy and Veronica, six women who were all desperately trying to get ahold of anyone from the Sand & Soul team about refunds.
“They don’t answer the phone, they don’t answer emails, they don’t answer messages. I’ve tried everything I could to get in contact with them,” Jeanetta told NBC 5 Responds.
NBC 5 Responds made several attempts to get answers from the Steve Harvey Sand & Soul event organizers. We finally heard from the COO Brandon Williams of Steve Harvey Global, who thanked NBC 5 Responds for bringing the matter to his attention and pledged to ensure “…that the individuals that are due refunds, will be made whole.”
Since that response on Sept. 2, none of the women say they have received their refunds.
NBC 5 Responds followed up and was told by Williams on Oct. 5 that the funds for the refunds (over $15k) were wired from Steve Harvey Global to the Event Organizer, as that was necessary in order to properly process the individual refunds last week.
“I was just made aware of the fact that for some reason (of which I am presently unaware) that the refunds were not processed, as was instructed to the Event Organizer. Like you, I am trying to get to the bottom of what has happened in this specific instance,” Williams told NBC 5 Responds.
We will continue to follow this story and report any updates.
