Formula 1 Grand Prix | Invalid tickets provided by Bell Media for an event… from Bell Media

Bell Media ruined the Grand Prix for several customers of their Shopico site. The discount shopping platform sold them invalid tickets for the Formula 1 race. Rejected at the entrance to the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit, they had to wait almost three weeks before getting a promise of a refund… and they are still waiting for explanations.

In February, Christian Lacroix paid $400 plus tax for two tickets on Shopico.ca. The site is owned by Bell Media, as is Octane Racing Group, promoter of the Canadian Grand Prix, which took place on June 17, 18 and 19.

Received by email, the “gift certificates” curiously did not indicate any seats for him and his partner, who was to accompany him.

“The first day in the morning, we saw that we were denied tickets. After insisting, the person let us pass, she says. But when we got to the stands, the officials checking tickets didn’t recognize them. They said, “Look, you don’t have room. I don’t understand why they let you pass. »

Christian Lacroix then meets other people with the same titles purchased from Shopico. Like him, they cannot access the stands. “The officials told us: ‘We do not recognize these tickets. It is not us, the sellers.’ »

He then contacts Shopico to expose the flaw, but gets no response. “We raised the issue via email, phone, voicemail… no response. »

In the afternoon, Christian Lacroix receives an email from Florence Lamothe, “sales coordinator” for Bell Media.

“The Formula 1 Grand Prix starts today! she writes. We have learned from the gang of many customers that Shopico gift certificate QR codes do not work. »

She says Grand Prix officials, employees of another Bell Media subsidiary, “are aware of the situation.”

“For those who purchased gift certificates at Shopico and [qui] you would not have received your ticket by email; Please note that your application has already been transferred[e] to the staff of this event. We will contact you immediately about your uncashed tickets as soon as we have a detailed response from Formula 1.”

radio silence

Nearly three weeks later, however, Christian Lacroix still hadn’t heard from the two Bell Media subsidiaries…until Press questions the company on Thursday.

Public relations chief Patrick Tremblay agrees that the company’s response has not been adequate. He assures that the management intends to refund the tickets.

“The fact that we talked to each other this morning means that as soon as we hang up, I’ll call everyone back,” he said. I’ll ask if there’s any way I can follow up with the gentleman. We’ll take care of that quickly. »

According to his information, at least four other people had the same problem as Christian Lacroix and his partner.

However, Patrick Tremblay cannot explain why a Bell Media subsidiary did not recognize tickets issued by another of its divisions. Nor the reason why nothing has been done to allow customers access to the Grand Prix site.

“There is a key person there who is on vacation and returns on Monday,” he said. Will be resolved next week, this confusion. »

“Too little, too late,” says Christian Lacroix, who plans to file a complaint with the Office of Consumer Protection. “They contacted me,” he confirms. I am detailing the nature of the weekend costs. »

Between the cost of the tickets, the trips, the restaurants, the Friday work lost in vain, and all the lost time, he estimates more than $2,000 in damages to himself and his partner.