A family from Allerton was left frustrated after a children's show at Liverpool's M&S Bank Arena was cancelled without them being notified. Helen Hosey, 37, had taken her partner James McKenna and their children Matilda, five, Luca, three, and Sonny, one, to see Be Like Blippi on Saturday, September 19. The trip was meant to mark Sonny's first birthday, and Luca is a big fan of Blippi.
However, when they arrived, a message on a screen outside the arena said the performance had been cancelled “due to unforeseen circumstances” and that all tickets would be refunded. Helen said she and several other families received no direct notice or social media update before arriving.
Family left with no plans on son's birthday
Speaking to the ECHO, Helen described the moment they found out. “We were so frustrated. We arrived at the car park and were getting our kids out of the car (when) someone stopped us and asked if we were going to Blippi,” she said. “They told us it had been cancelled and apparently they had sent emails. We checked out mail including our junk and had nothing. We checked the socials for the arena and Blippi tour, there was nothing there either.”
She added: “We walked over to the arena to be sure and there was a sign saying it was cancelled and would be refunded, but with no explanation as to why. We were in town, paying for parking with three kids who were six and under, with nothing to do on my little boy's birthday.”
Helen said her middle child Luca was especially upset. “My middle child (Luca) is a big Blippi fan, I'd bought him a Blippi t-shirt to wear especially, he was upset but thankfully was too young to really understand what he had missed.”
Other families report same issue
Helen said she spoke to three other families in the car park and outside the arena who had not been told either. Similar complaints appeared on social media. One person commented on Instagram: “We just turned up to this. No email. Very disappointed and my boy is not happy.”
A dad asked: “Can anyone from the team let customers know if this is cancelled or not at 4pm also as we’ve still not had any cancellation notices? What’s going on?” Another mum wrote: “I haven’t received an email yet but have tickets for our family to come to the show and I’m gutted to have just seen online that it's cancelled. We’ve been looking forward to it for so long! What do we do about our tickets? Will we get a refund? Are you rescheduling? We’re so sad.”
Promoter and venue respond
A spokesperson for Chuff Media, the promoters, said: “We are very sorry that Saturday’s Liverpool performance of Be Like Blippi had to be cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. The venue sent communications to its bookers Ticket Quarter and also notified Ticketmaster, Wowcher and other ticketing outlets, who contacted their customers. We appreciate that some may not have received or seen these communications, including where emails went to junk or spam, and sincerely apologise to anyone who travelled to the venue unaware of the cancellation. Refunds are being processed by the original point of purchase.”
A spokesperson for Liverpool Experience Campus, which includes the arena under its brand, said: “We understand the disappointment caused by the cancellation of Be Like Blippi. We were notified by the tour promoter of the cancellation at short notice and communicated with ticket bookers as quickly as possible once we received confirmation. We appreciate the feedback we've received, which is valuable in helping us review and improve how we communicate with customers.”
