Raptix ticketing slammed in fallout of Sickick cancellations

An SA ticket sales company run by a well-known rapper has gone to ground after a high-profile tour was cancelled at the last minute, allegedly leaving fans out of pocket.

Music lovers have allegedly been left out-of-pocket and at odds after an Australian and New Zealand rap tour promoted and held by a South Australia ticket sales group was canned at the last minute.

Tickets to the tour were sold by online ticket sales group Raptix, which was founded by rapper and promoter Patrick Whyntie, who is the chief executive of the group.

In the fallout of the cancellations, Whyntie posted a response on his social media abrogating the blame to a group he could not name because he signed a nondisclosure agreement.

“They (the group) left at 6am in the morning and put a post up without telling us or notifying the national promoter … that they had Covid,” he said.

“Now we’re (Raptix) left to clean up the financial mess.

Social media correspondence about the cancellations. Picture: Facebook

Raptix founder and chief executive Patrick Whyntie. Picture: File

“We’ve been, probably, left on the verge of bankruptcy.”

The tour was due to showcase international artist Sickick, who was expected to play headline shows in October at seven different venues across Australia and New Zealand.

After three shows in Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney, the remaining shows in Perth, Brisbane, Christchurch and Auckland were cancelled at the last minute.

Since the shows were cancelled, Raptix social media pages on Facebook and Instagram have been shut down.

Event pages for the cancelled performances have received messages from ticket buyers who say they have not received refunds and have contacted Raptix to ask for their money back but have been ignored.

The claims have been strenuously denied by Raptix.

A Brisbane man, who has chosen to stay anonymous, told The Advertiser he had found out, through an online post not from Raptix, the shows were cancelled because of an “illness”.

Tickets for the shows cost as much as $80, with the man out-of-pocket $140.

Patrick Whyntie performing as rapper Mastacraft.

An online post made by Sickick said the cancellation had resulted from them finding out they “were in close contact” with somebody who had contacted Covid.

“We’ve been advised to unfortunately go into a safety protocol and isolation/testing so will not be able to continue the rest of the tour for the safety of all,” they wrote.

The post was made on October 12.

Two days later Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced all state’s isolation periods for Covid would be canned from October 14.

The Brisbane man said the cancellations were just the beginning of issues with communication he had experienced with Raptix.

“There are lots of frustrated people looking for answers,” the man said.

“As someone who’s just lost $140, I just want to raise awareness.”

Brisbane woman Awhina Shortcliffe told The Advertiser she too had not received a refund or correspondence despite persistent messages to Raptix.

She said she had filed a complaint with the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission and was awaiting feedback on her next steps to get her money back.

A spokeswoman woman could not confirm if any reports had been made or if an investigation was being pursued.

“Where there is a major failure with a consumer guarantee for a service, such as the event organiser choosing to cancel an event or make major changes because of artist availability, consumers are entitled to refunds,” she said.

“However, the consumer guarantee rights under the Australian Consumer Law are unlikely to apply where events are cancelled by providers due to the actions of a third party.

“In this situation the remedies consumers are entitled to will depend on the terms and conditions of their booking.

“Ticketholders should report their issue to a state based consumer protection or fair trading agency who may be able to assist.”

Show promoters in New Zealand – Monika Dombay and Jacob Skilling – issued a statement saying they had been left in the dark about the last-minute show cancellations.

“We received messages saying the tour is cancelled,” they said.

“Since then all communication has ceased from Raptix and all parties involved.

“All sales/money has gone through Raptix and we have no involvement in finances for these events.

“We have inquired about cancellation posts, refunds and our next move multiple times a day to no avail.”

New Zealand promoter Monika Dombay. Picture: Facebook

New Zealand promoter Jacob Skilling. Picture: Facebook

New Zealand women Hailey Walker and Azaria Conner said they had spent hundreds of dollars on tickets and were still awaiting refunds.

Ms Conner said her bank had told her no refunds were pending, and that she had sent between five and eight emails to Raptix but had not received a response.

Ms Walker said her experience had been the same, but the company had replied to one email saying they would not “accept death threats”.

Ms Walker said she never sent them a death threat.

When contacted by The Advertiser, a spokesman for Raptix denied the claims.

“Ticket holders were advised multiple times of the cancellations,” the spokesman said.

“Refunds have been issued.”

Sources with acute knowledge of the Raptix back-end systems, which include the issuance of refunds, told The Advertiser the system the group used made it possible to issue a refund to a ticket buyer by clicking one button.

A statement posted by Whyntie – who was behind the Heatwave Festival failure in 2012 that sent the event into administration – to his private social media on October 21 said “all refunds are coming” and told concerned buyers they may need to wait “a couple of weeks”.

Whyntie earlier this month made an 11th-hour plea deal in the Port Adelaide Magistrates court which saw him placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond after pleading guilty to distributing an invasive image of somebody over 17.

Whyntie and Sickick were both contacted for comment.