Maroochydore restaurant Elixiba addresses fundraiser drama
A Sunshine Coast restaurant, which attempted to raise more than $500,000 ahead of its closure, has assured customers their donations would be refunded.
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A Sunshine Coast restaurant, which attempted to raise more than $500,000 ahead of its closure, has assured customers their donations would be refunded.
The Ocean St vegan bar and restaurant in Maroochydore, Elixiba, announced it was closing last month, not long after it launched a fundraiser.
A GoFundMe to fundraise more than $520,000 was created by the business in an attempt of “saving and growing” the venue, according to Elixiba’s social media post confirming the restaurant would permanently close.
“We launched the GoFundMe campaign with the hope of saving and growing Elixiba, but after much reflection and listening to your feedback, we’ve decided to close the campaign (refund all donations) and bring this chapter to a close,” the post stated.
The post received multiple comments asking when those who had donated would receive a refund.
One commenter said they requested a refund through GoFundMe, only to be told the money had already been transferred to Elixiba.
“Unfortunately, since the donation has already been transferred to the beneficiary of the fundraiser, GoFundMe is unable to issue a refund. Please note that you can reach out to the organiser of the fundraiser to request a refund directly,” the comment stated.
Another person commented on Elixiba’s post last week asking, “has anyone been refunded yet?”.
On Wednesday, Elixiba posted again to social media, stating they were handling the refunds of the donations themselves after they were unable to get in touch with GoFundMe.
“We were emailing GoFundMe about the refunds but they didn’t respond as of now,” the post stated.
“As we see more and more people question our honesty about the refunds we decided to do it ourselves.”
Both Elixiba and GoFundMe have been contacted by this publication for comment.
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