Concert goer had 'appalling' experience for £800

A woman has described a partial refund offered by organisers of a Robbie Williams concert as unacceptable, after an "appalling" experience.

Claudine Beard from Honiton in Devon bought three premium tickets worth more than £800 from Ticketmaster for the concert at the Royal Crescent in Bath on 13 June.

She said she and two companions were denied entry due to "health and safety concerns" and could only see the top of a screen and not the stage, which she believed was "not an £800 experience".

Event organiser Senbla said it was "truly sorry" and offered to refund her the difference between standard and premium tickets as a gesture of goodwill - Ms Beard said this was not "acceptable".

Ms Beard purchased the tickets last November as a Christmas present for her friend and daughter.

She said: "I bought three golden circle tickets... for myself and two friends who have been an incredible support to me since my husband died last June.

"One of them is a massive Robbie Williams fan and her and her daughter have gone out of their way to provide me with so much friendship and support this last year."

On top of paying £801 for three tickets, she also had additional costs on transport and arranging care for their animals.

She said she could not see Robbie Williams or the stage due to a huge fence blocking the view.

"You can't expect somebody to spend hundreds of pounds for an experience and then not deliver on that experience due to poor organisation," she said.

Upon returning home after the concert she complained to both Ticketmaster and Senbla.

Ms Beard said she was "not rolling over" because she was not alone and claimed at least 100 other people were affected.

Responding to the offer of the partial refund, she said: "I don't think that's acceptable as we missed so much of the concert due to being held by the fence."

She added: "I am only interested in as a minimum, full refund of £801 and ideally would go for expenses that we incurred because of our trip to Bath."

Ticketmaster said in a statement it was not involved with event operations and all complaints and refunds would be issued by the organisers.

Senbla said it was "truly sorry that Ms Beard wasn't able to enjoy her evening."

It said there were "minor issues" due to "most of the audience choosing to enter from the stage left entrance and despite security teams actively managing flow and directing people to the other entrance, many crowd members did not follow directions and remained in the congested area, slowing down entry from that side".

"After thorough investigations, nobody was prevented from entering and there was more than enough space as evidenced by police reports and third-party medics on site," the company added.

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