Organizers of an upcoming music festival in Toronto are being accused of putting on "the Fyre Festival" of the city after ticketholders claim they've been left completely in the dark about what is happening with the event, and have yet to receive word on potential refunds.

Hot in Toronto, put on by a company called Festivals of Vaughan, was postponed from its original June 22 date when headliner Lil Wayne dropped out of the lineup in late May, giving fans less than a month's notice of the changes.

The little warning, along with the fact that the brand gave no prospective date for when the hip-hop show would take place and who might be playing instead, served as red flags for many fans, who decided to play it safe and try to simply get their money back for the concert.

But, social media posts and comments as recent as this week indicate that many who were promised refunds from Festivals of Vaughan have yet to receive them, while others have been completely ghosted.

Hot In Toronto by Festivals of Vaughan are ghosting ticket holders
byu/legendarylevy intoronto

One person who spoke with blogTO last Friday said that they've been trying to wrangle a refund for the fest since April, but event organizers attempted to talk them out of it before going MIA.

"They kept asking me to wait and [said] information will be released," the disgruntled customer said. "They are not responding to any emails and shut down their social media, and I still have not received a refund."

Though he disputed the hundreds of dollars in charges with Afterpay, he was told that the festival denied his refund in an ordeal that he is now calling "very sketchy."

"First, [they] offered refunds and asked people not to do chargebacks, but then stopped responding to people. I tried a dispute and the merchant denied it themselves. I don't have a good feeling about this situation. The emails are not professional."

I emailed and messaged them with no response so far.

— Legendary Levy (@legendarylevy) April 21, 2024

Others have been vocal online about having a very similar experience, complaining of little-to-no communication from staff, failure to process refunds, and lack of public updates.

"They said if we don't receive a notification by June 20, to send a follow up email. Well, that email's been sent today," one Redditor wrote in a thread on the topic on the date mentioned.

"Patience is wearing thin and nerves we are getting screwed — anyone have any insight? They owe me $480. No idea how the refund is coming if it does... I just wish they would respond with something or give us all an update."

This is insane.
No @HotinHerreCa date, no refunds just keeping everyone's money, and they'll update us later? @LilTunechi @hotintorontoca pic.twitter.com/FwS3cQL5CN

— Legendary Levy (@legendarylevy) May 24, 2024

A quick look at the event's Instagram page shows some posts with comments turned off, and others flooded with inquiries and accusations.

"Has anyone been refunded yet?" and "Is this still happening this year?" are questions that appear multiple times, with some calling the whole thing a "scam" and saying, "It's giving Fire Fest vibes."

People have pointed out the "scam" feeling of Festivals of Vaughan events in the past, too, though last year's iteration of Hot in Toronto — called Hot in Herre — did take place, and saw large crowds.

"Event? You guy are hosting an event? Who's playing? Because you haven't even updated anyone on who's actually performing, ghosting everyone and not giving us a chance to see who’s playing, and it's a month away. How unprofessional and unorganized. Who's in charge?" one person wrote back in May.

A few have responded to the above comment and others up to and including this week, venting their frustrations and checking if fellow ticketholders have any new information.

People can be seen asking for updates and refunds on some Hot in Toronto's Instagram posts that still have the comments sections open.

"The last email I got from them was on May 31, explaining how to get a refund and saying they were going to try and have the refunds done by June 20. But so far, nobody I know has received one," one person wrote last week.

Some have chimed in to say Festivals of Vaughan is also deleting negative comments.

In response to an inquiry from blogTO, Hot in Toronto said over email on Tuesday that the event is postponed to an unconfirmed day and that "all tickets will be valid for the new date and lineup."

"We are working on securing new dates and new artists for the show," they added.

More social media comments show paying customers' frustration with the situation.

This certainly isn't the first time people in Toronto have felt duped and shortchanged by event organizers: last fall, a Halloween experience called the Haunting of Hexwood had a disappointing mess of a first night, leading to a flurry of complaints and bad reviews.

Prior to that, there was a Banksyland exhibition that attendees called "a total scam," the '90s Nostalgia Music Festival that three headlining acts bailed on at the last second, and Kultureland fest, which angered fans with similar lineup and venue changes on the day of.