The question is if an application says jury fee not refundable and the application and pictures never make it through that process because the application was submitted by mistake through an electronic site 4 weeks after the show was closed.
After the realization of this mistake the show was contacted and to date the show had not contact the artist. So the first contact was done by the artist via e-mail With no response. Finally a response came but it was not regarding their application and it said that they had told them that had addressed their application with them and the jury fee and application would be held for the next show.
After the receipt of this e-mail the artist than called to talk with them and to let them know that they must have mistaken them for another artist. When speaking with the it was felt that this was no big deal and do not bother them because they had said that they would just keep the fee and app until the next show. The response from the artist was you can not keep that fee even though it was stated on the site because it never went through the jury process in fact the promoter did not even know that the application had been submitted.
So is the artist right that the jury fee be returned or does the promoter have the right to keep the fee because the site says jury fee is nonrefundable?
Here is my position a jury fee is for a process that artists have to go through to enter a show. If it dose not go through this process there should be no charge because nothing was done. I believe that the artist would have not had a issue with this if it had said application fee. They did complete and file an application for the show on the site.
Please let me know what you think and has anyone ever run into this issue, especially since fees are getting so high.
Comments
hey that's what charge backs are for but she needs to do it immediately. They will get hit with a chargeback fee. They really think twice about handling errors this way. No refund for any reason is not acceptable policy for a mistake. Sometimes u just cannot not reason with people though and you have no other choice. It was a mistake, plain and simple and I think they are risking their credit card merchant privileges by doing this to her. I think small claims and such are for working out disagreements not refunding money that was paid to someone by mistake.
Does the show have a name? Otherwise there's no point in discussing it on social media.
Larry Berman
Just call the credit card company and explain. They'll refund the money and debit the organization.
Larry Berman
Two things come to mind. First, you said the application "was submitted by mistake." Was the mistake on the artist's part? If so, then I think refunding the fee might be a nice thing for the promoter to do but isn't necessary. If it says in writing that the fee is non-refundable, then once the promoter has the money they have no requirement to return it.
Second, there's a lot more involved in jurying than the actual time the jurors are reviewing the images. Many, many days are spent prior to jurying on receiving, reviewing and processing the applications, compiling a number of financial, participation and logistical spreadsheets, electronically labeling the images and putting them into categories in the software, planning and producing the day's schedule and related materials, etc. etc. Oh, and buying bagels and fruit for the jury and staff.
So the jury fee pays for quite a bit before anything goes to the jurors. In fact, finding this artist's late application, corresponding about it with the artist, discussing it with the show director, and making notes on the disposition of the problem could have eaten up the whole jury fee that the artist wants returned. At this point, the artist could just consider the lost jury fee as the price of a lesson learned.
Having said all that, holding on to the application and fee until next year is crazy. What if the artist isn't available to do the show next year? Sounds like the show is trying to come up with a reason for not returning the money, but the excuse they chose is pretty thin.
legally speaking, if the website was at fault the artist would have a claim against the website operator. However the artist would probably have to file claim in small claims court where the website was located. If the website was operated by the promoter then the artist would file against that promoter. If the website was not operated directly by the promoter than you go after the website operator. Realistically, the suggestion about contacting the credit card company is probably the best option.
Jan
I agree about the amount of money for jury fees. Also, as a fellow jeweler, if the promoter has favorite jewelers and knows that there are only 5 open jewelry spots, that should be made common knowledge as well. I've already blown off steam about the shows that boast of having 900+ applications for 300 booth spaces. I can't believe that the 3 or 4 jurors are getting such a huge portion of all that money! It seems like a money making proposition for the organizers. I also know of some great promoters who are generous in their dealings with the artists.
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