I will no longer be using Eventbrite for my social club, and honestly, I now despise this company. After requesting them to refund the remaining £4 of each attendee’s payment (£20 total, which includes a £16 restaurant deposit per person), they outright refused. This £4 was intended to cover part of the restaurant deposit—something most venues require for larger group bookings—but Eventbrite has chosen to withhold it as part of their “reserve fund.” Let me break down just how unreasonable this is:First, they already take a cut of around £2 per ticket for their fees. On top of that, I have to cover the £4 per attendee out of pocket to ensure the restaurant deposit is met. What this means is, despite attendees paying the full £20, I end up at a financial loss while Eventbrite keeps a portion of my revenue under the pretext of "refunds or chargebacks"—even when my events clearly state no refunds. Unless an event is cancelled, there's absolutely no justification for this.Here’s the response I received after making a complaint:Thank you for contacting us before and for your ongoing patience while we worked on this matter.After many further discussions with our internal team, they have confirmed that the reserve is non-negotiable, so it can't be waived or lowered.Part of our scheduled payouts policy is that we withhold a reserve, which is equal to 20% of the net sales at the time of each payout, to have funds available in case of refund requests or chargebacks. There is no exception to this, even if your refund policy is “No refunds”.This reserve is paid out with your final payout after the event, which begins processing three days after your event takes place. You can refer to the next article for more information regarding this topic: [link]We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause you and appreciate your understanding. If you encounter any other issues in the future, please don't hesitate to contact us again. We'll be happy to assist you.Kind regards,Angel Diaz.The Eventbrite Customer Experience TeamThis policy is not only inconvenient for me as an organiser but also for my attendees. I've had to direct them to avoid purchasing tickets via Eventbrite moving forward. Using their service now feels like navigating a scam. Their system disregards common sense, forcing organisers like me to dig into our own pockets to make up for withheld funds—funds that should go towards the event. Unless your event is cancelled, why should they hold on to this money? It’s illogical, unnecessary, and greedy.Eventbrite used to be my go-to platform because it was straightforward and trustworthy. But with these changes, I am done with them. Moving forward, I’ll be using Meetup.com and my own website to sell tickets and manage events. I refuse to work with a company that makes event organising this complicated and financially draining. It’s disappointing to see what they’ve become.
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