Fans Demand Refunds As Zoo8 Is Called 'Worst Festival Ever'

• by Jason Gregory
• Monday, July 07, 2008
• Photo by: Carsten Windhorst
• filed in:

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Ash

• I\'d actually say Zoothousand was the most poorly organised event of any kind I have EVER attended. Apparently the four hour wait to get in was due to the machines not scanning the barcode on the tickets - hello, it\'s called a contingency plan. If something like that happens you let people in and suck-up the fact you\'ll end inevitably end up with some dodgy ticket holders entering.

  ~ by Cathy 7/7/2008

  

• i didn\'t seem to have a 5 hour delay at any point and i turned up each day and went home each night? everyday i was in within 10 mins. shame about the walk from the car park, and Mr Rascal dropping out can not be the event organisiers fault.

  ~ by Mitch 7/7/2008

  

  • What a mess, I didn\'t attend the event but I watched it all unfold from a distance and knew that these guys were out of their depth with this event, simple things like toilets and parking should not have gone wrong ! I have managed and produced major events like this and they should have started smaller and built it organically year by year. Now with the poor press they will have an uphill task to even do a Z009 !!

    ~ by Stephen 7/9/2008

• Most unorganised shamble of a festival ever!!

  ~ by Rachel86 7/7/2008

  

• The complete lack of any organisation became apparent very quickly on arrival, with stewards and security having no idea where to send people and huge queues developing. There were only four toilets in the campsite, which quickly became unusable and weren’t cleaned until Sunday, and no drinking water either. There was no marshalling of the campsite and no campsite security, and all of this before you got into the arena to find the bands had started pulling out because they hadn&#82

  ~ by Danny 7/7/2008

  

• It really was very poorly run but if, like me, you didn’t really care about the Main Stage and just went straight for the Drum and Bass tent-it was awesome...

  ~ by Spoek 7/7/2008

  

• It was unorganized. But the musical enjoyment was Grand :D

  ~ by Stellar 7/7/2008

  

• well I have just returned back from zoo8 and have to say that its my worse ever festival experience - a rediculous walk from carpark to campsite carrying camping equipment with nowhere to drop it off, 4 hours standing in the queue just to get in with no toilets to hand ! the campsite was vastly undersized, toilets unusable, and most of the leading acts cancelled !! where do I get a refund from ?

  ~ by Damian 7/7/2008

  

• This festival was a joke. We bought day tickets at 45 each. We arrived at 1030am and had to stand in a queue until 1pm. There were no more than 8-10 people handing out wrist bands and processing tickets. I would imagine that some people would have had to queue for double that time as we were near the front. The stewards had no idea about anything and were obviously left out of the loop completely.

  ~ by danrhodesuk 7/7/2008

  

• here are links to the official line up with crosses on the acts that didnt play this utter shambles of a festival. 20 ACTS CANCELLED !!!! WITH NO ONE SAYING ANYTHING WE WANT REFUNDS http://i30.tinypic.com/357f1uu.jpg http://i29.tinypic.com/2hf4f3t.jpg http://i27.tinypic.com/11jyduf.jpg

  ~ by David Olivier 7/7/2008

  

• I think there are just too many festivals nowadays. Seemingly any old chump can take it upon themselves to organise a festival. I might hop on the bandwagon myself if people are willing to part with their greens for any old field-gathering.

  ~ by Burnt out hippy 7/7/2008

  

• well I had a wicked time...

  ~ by lg19 7/7/2008

  

• I think it was ridiculous, i ended up waiting about 3 hours to get in even though i bought a vip ticket. The people with standard tickets were getting in ten times quicker. The staff did not know anything and were rude. Like people have already said, tents were being shut due to apparent technical problems and most people didn’t turn up. The showers didn’’t work all weekend, the queue for the toilets was about half hr as there were only 4 between the whole vip camps

  ~ by Sarah 7/7/2008

  

• I worked on the pit crew of the tent that caused all the problems, and have to say that the Young Knives were the highlight of all the bands I saw... Followed closely by Mexico Fallz (like a poor man’s pendulum). You guys aren’’t the only ones that were hacked off - this has to be the worst festival for communication that I’’ve ever worked, and I’’ve been doing this job a long while now.

  ~ by Paul Green 7/7/2008

  

• zoo8 was so unorganised but it was absolutly amazing all the same. alot of acts didnt show but its all about the atmosphere which was made by the people who wernt to fussed about the bands. i would definatly do it all over againn!

  ~ by hannah 7/7/2008

  

• The promoter of zoo8 has made huge mistakes in the past with his organising skills! He should of learnt his lesson last time and stick to what he knows best...and thats being a DJ!...his head has got too big too fast and its all of us that suffere4d the whole weekend! I went home sun..i had had enough...sorry mate i know ur a friend but seriously stick to the Drum and Base DJ scene!! D

  ~ by Donna 7/7/2008

  

• I had a weekend ticket and arrived on Saturday morning to be told that there were no camping spaces left, despite having a full weekend ticket! They said that some would free up but couldn’t specify when. After much waiting and on the advice on a member of staff, I ended up just climbing through a hole in the fence and pitching up anyway. Probably would have got away with not buying a ticket at all- people were walking in and out of the event without any kind of wristband on.

  ~ by fraggle 7/7/2008

  

• So many bands not turning up (at least 6 of the main crowd attractors), very poorly organised and so much else...enquiring about refund

  ~ by George W 7/7/2008

  

• the whole thing was a complete joke!!!

  ~ by sarah bedo 7/7/2008

  

• WHAT A JOKE

  ~ by XD 7/7/2008

  

• This zoo festival promised so much but delivered a big fat zero! Long trek from parking the car to the venue and in total darkness on the way back. Event security and staff not at all informed and frankly un-helpful. Poor facilities on site and the campers packed in like sardines in a can! Disorganised queues to get into the site, expensive drinks and to top it all, several acts not turning up! Zoo Festival do the decent thing and refund our money and do not attempt another one next year!

  ~ by David Mooney 7/7/2008

  

• security and the ticket exchange was appaling. Clearly mosy of the staff issuing tickets had no briefing and could not work scanner or new which wristbands they where issuing. A car being used by Scott Wilson for mountain bike stunts was rolled by drunk kids in the middle of the festival, Security didn’t spot this! Continuing selling programs at full price you know are useless for the Friday is poor. Lethal Bizzle Mark Ronson where excellent which help make up for the short commings

  ~ by Dave 7/7/2008

  

• I can\'t get over how poorly organised this was. The best bit was the journey home.

  ~ by Sophie 7/7/2008

  

• I was working there and saw everything crumble from withen they were warned there wasnt enough toliets and they ran out of money because thay didnt have a clue

  ~ by an 7/7/2008

  

• Get you money back via the small claims court or at least local trading standards office. Clause 13 of the terms and conditions was as follows The event promoter reserves the right to make any change whatsoever to the act programme owing to any unforeseen or unavoidable cause. Not paying the artists to perform is neither unforseen or unavoidable.

  ~ by moneybackexpert 7/7/2008

  

• I touched Mark Ronson! :D & I was too drunk to care about things going wrong, I just made the most of it & met some wkd people :D

  ~ by Lou 7/7/2008

  

• A Zoo. Run by sharks. The bands were dicked around, not paid, talked to like crap - I didn’t meet one crew person on-site who had a clue - or worse still gave even the slightest shit about the disaster unfolding in front of them. They’’d have been better off releasing the monkeys they’’d presumably caged up down the road and letting them run the show. But at least there was no queue at the bar. Ever. And the 6 laminates were hilariously Z

  ~ by Grass Monkey 7/7/2008

  

• Local trading standards: Kent County Council Consumer Advice PO Box 71 Ashford Kent TN24 8WB

  ~ by POO8 7/7/2008

  

• My band played there Z008 was a complete farce. 1 minute we were told we were playing the main stage, then the Tap nTin, then the VIP stage. We knew it would be a complete mess as soon as we got there as even the people who were meant to be running it didn\'t have a clue what was going on. Apparently Ronson only appeared after his management were handed several thousands of pounds in cash at a service station in Ashford

  ~ by Anon 7/7/2008

  

• the bands werent getting payed. i saw a stage manager fighting with the promoter. an absolute shocker!!!!!!

  ~ by jack 7/7/2008

  

• THATS THE 1st PROPER MUSIC FESTIVAL IVE EVER BEEN TO AS IM ONLY 15 , please dont say all festivals are like this .. because i mite be put off them for life :(

  ~ by jonathan 7/7/2008

  

• I thought it was awsome. Its three guys who attempted a festival and yeh it could have bene a little better a few little mishaps but i still had a wikid time and i am looking forward hopefully to a Zoo9. Stop your bitching and enjoy what you got.

  ~ by Alicia 7/7/2008

  

• I really enjoyed zoo8. I thought lethal bizzle taking over Dizzie Rascal was brilliant. However I wish Dizzie had been there and I was very disapointed when he wasnt because he was the main reason I went. Good weekend but the food was really expensive and the toliets were in a disgusting state, also getting into the event took around 3 hours. Next time i feel they need more security spread throughout the event because the guards never seemed to be present.I would attend again.

  ~ by Lauren 7/7/2008

  

• I got there at about 9 o clock Friday morning and queued for about two hours to get in and when i did get in i had to wait another hour to get my ticket checked and exchange it for a wristband. The headlining acts being cancelled was a massive dissappointment but Hadouken and The Gallows were unreal, made up for the fact that the toilets were terrible and you had to be richer than all the acts to afford some food! Overall i had a great time and would attend agen next year if continued.

  ~ by Nathan 7/7/2008

  

• i went on sunday and it was sooooo shit. hardley anyone turned up and tap n tin closed. WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?

  ~ by annoyed 7/7/2008

  

• STOP MOANING!!!!!! wel i thought zoo8 was amazing!!! festivals arnt ment to be like a 5* hotel, u need to expect some mess n not amazing facilities. and for their first festival i say they dont a gd job. staff wer helpful my friend needed first aid and she was in a hospital within 5 mins. well done z008 i had a great time and i know lots of people who did!!!!! :) bring on zoo9!!!!

  ~ by k.b 7/7/2008

  

• zoo8 was a nightmare. all the organisers did, was sitting around making sure they get enough money for themselves. Alex Turner was there, wanted to go on stage, without pay. THEY WOULDNT LET HIM. anyway, there was this new band playin. NEEDS MUST. one of the best new acts i’ve seen in years. they appeared two or three times, filling gaps on different stages. Its a shame for bands like this, having to play to an audience, which was treated like animals.

  ~ by Tony 7/7/2008

  

• was arse

  ~ by sc 7/7/2008

  

• first festival id ever been to. left on sunday morning coz literally could not bear anymore. didnt see evn 1 band id wanted to see. the entire thing was swarming with pissed 13 year olds unaccopmanied by guardians and chavs as far as the eye could see. food was expensive and discusting and the whole thing had me wondering why i botherd to get out of bed on friday morning. zoo8 orgqinisers should hang their heads in shame - and thats coming from somone who didnt even pay for their ticket. shame!

  ~ by jt 7/7/2008

  

• Ok sure it went abit titts up and yes there was alot of people loosing there tempers evan I got charged 10 parking with 5 people in my car, but sunday was such a good day and it rely was what you made it as why do we always have 2 complain and demand our money back, it was a music fest, it’s what they are all about trying something new going for it. I hated saturday but i say go on and learn from your mistakes n see you in z009.

  ~ by monster 7/7/2008

  

• Ok sure it went abit titts up and yes there was alot of people loosing there tempers evan I got charged 10 parking with 5 people in my car, but sunday was such a good day and it rely was what you made it as why do we always have 2 complain and demand our money back, it was a music fest, it’s what they are all about trying something new going for it. I hated saturday but i say go on and learn from your mistakes n see you in z009.

  ~ by monster44 7/7/2008

  

• i had my children with me and was told on booking and website that familys were welcome.well after 4 hours we get in and yes the scanning are still not working we then ask where the family campsite is and the staff have no idea.we get moved 3 times and more and more tents move in around us.one night we had a mad man with a knive robbing tents,the staff just took there time before calling the old bill.everyone was piss off at the bands not turning up. what a mess,unorganised and waste of 250.

  ~ by emma 7/7/2008

  

• bring on zoo9! it was out of order not telling us that acts werent going to play, there was a severe lack of communication it seemed, but i still had an excellent time, and everyone i spoke to and saw were having a brilliant time too. every act that i did see were brilliant. i say let them learn from there mistakes and have next year being even better!

  ~ by anon. 7/7/2008

  

• My friend, my boyfriend and I spent nearly 2 hours queuing. It was not worth the wait AT ALL. The place was filthy with all the litter, most of the headline acts had pulled out and, in the end, we ended up leaving hours earlier than we had intended! I expected A LOT better from Z008.

  ~ by Jenny 7/7/2008

  

• it did have some poor organisation at some points, it was understaffed and needed to sort out what acts were up more but it was its first year, i think itll be better next year, the security there were very alert i felt and i didnt feel endangered. the toilets were disgusting but i think it was more other people making the mess. The event organisers need to shape up some things, sort out a few kinks but all in all, i wouldnt call it bad.

  ~ by Jimz 7/7/2008

  

• where to begin with this festival of flith, zoo8 had the potential to be something great, but the bands need to be sorted, for a 135 im fairly sure a better less cheap crappy program can be thrown in, TOILETS OMG THERE WAS FUCKING SHIT SMEARED ALL OVER THE WALLS, and i have never seen a worse case of group mentality, no one was held accountable when knocking people out by throwing beer cans into the crowd, theifing, burning down tents slashing and robbing, alot needs to happen before zoo9

  ~ by callum 7/7/2008

  

• biggest waste of money ever, cannot honestly believe i paid VIP and what for? an extra wristband?

  ~ by penny991 7/8/2008

  

• Well I thought that I was being paranoid about how bad this festival was cos it was my first festival and I didnt know what to expect, I certainly expected better. After queueing for hours to get in, I was looking forward to seeing the rascals, pendulum, wiley, hadouken and the young knives. 4 out of 5 of these didnt play, and hadouken were hours late so we missed them. All I saw was a fill in solo artist that no one has heard of. The tap and tin tent was closed all day and we left hours early.

  ~ by Paige 7/8/2008

  

• the main acts i went to see didnt show. as for organisiation the term could not organise a piss up i a brewary comes to mind the security did not care i even reported my wallet stolen and the suspect to find nothing done. the campsite was like a concentration camp and had no clean water like stated on the ticet this is a case of false advertising and as so we should all be compensated for the health, safety and sanity risk we were subjected to

  ~ by beth 7/8/2008

  

• i was at zoo8 dizzee got 20g and did not come .out of order he must give back the 20g i was security .do not put it down to the organisiers.

  ~ by big man 7/9/2008

  

• lethal bizzle is a good man for taking the point were dizzee did not. dodgy dizzee

  ~ by tells 7/9/2008

  

• TOOK ME 4 HOURS TO GET IN ON FRIDAY IN THE SCORCHING SUN AT QUEUE THOUSAND!! FESTIVAL HAD SO MUCH POTENTIAL, THE MAIN ARENA WAS BIG WITH LOTS TO DO THE ADVERTISED LINE UP WAS AMAZIN. UNFORTUNATLY IT GRADUALLY DESCENDED INTO A FARCE AS LOADS OF ACTS DROPPED OUT, THE SECOND STAGE CLOSED, TOILETS BLOCKED UP, CASH MACHINES STOPPED WORKING, FOOD OUTLETS RAN OUT.I NEVER KNEW WHERE I HAD TO BE TO SEE A BAND OR IF THEY WERE PLAYING AT ALL.BY SUNDAY I WAS CALLING IT POO THOUSAND!DANCE TENT WAS GOOD THO

  ~ by WURZIL 7/9/2008

  

• waste of time, we left early and i’m glad we did as the only reason we were going to stay was for athlete and... surprise surprise... they didn’’t turn up either!

  ~ by disgruntled, essex 7/10/2008

  

• how the hell do you get refunds does any one know if there is a web site to ask for money back zoo8 was a joke and a compleat let down!!

  ~ by chanice 7/10/2008

  

• NOt as bad as Anti- World Festival last year...now that was THE WORST FESTIVAL OF ALL TIME! I’m still recovering. At least there was a choice of music and not just ****trance!!!

  ~ by maria 7/10/2008

  

• The half a mile walk from the car park with your camping gear was unacceptable. We went VIP thinking that would give us better facilities - how wrong we were. Yes nearer the entrance but only 2 ladies and 2 gents toilets were provided for all VIP campers. The showers weren\'t working and when they finally got them working they were freezing cold! 1 main burger van supplied everyone with food before the main arena opened! A complete shambles.

  ~ by TH 7/10/2008

  

  • i had the best weekend ever! who cares if the organisation was shit dont bother going to a festival then you stupid assholes

    ~ by . 7/11/2008

• I thoroughly enjoyed Zoo8, Yes, we qued, And The toilets were poor, But everyone i met seemed to be having a great time! All the people i met were friendly, I camped in the field, And met some extremley polite and funny people. It was unorganised, But it depended on the people you were there with, I had one of the greatest weekends in the world, Far from the worst festival ever.

  ~ by Ellen 7/10/2008

  

• it was just laughable !!! nothing else to say except z009 ur having a laugh

  ~ by jake 7/13/2008

  

• hhahahahaha it was unorganised and conditions could have been a hell of alot better.. spesh the loos and ques. but on the whole two great sunshine days loads of interesting people, ida maria (personal fav) and the hives..it was cool.

  ~ by karl 877 7/24/2008

  

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