CONQuest 2023 is currently trending on Twitter with 13.5K tweets and while it boasted a plethora of events that would cater to various communities, the event is plagued with a lot of issues that fans pointed out.
One of the biggest concerns stem from the long lines and the extreme congestion that fans encountered. Members from Spin.ph attended the event and witnessed fans lining up for the escalator to enjoy the festivities on the 2nd floor.
Due to the negative experiences that fans witnessed, AcadArena co-founder, Justin Gorriceta Banusing issued a public apology to the community.
CONQuest issues refunds
"I know you’ve been looking forward to this event all year and it sucked that not everyone who wanted to experience CQ was able to do so. Worse is that I hyped it up a LOT – and hype means nothing when you cannot enjoy it," started Banusing.
He added: "I entered this year with an inflated ego coming off the high of last year. I thought I could solve the problems I experienced as a con-goer growing up and that my event was better than others. That I was better than other organizers. And I clearly wasn’t."
"Jokes on me, linecon became my con. I was in over my head to think I could deliver an experience at this magnitude in the second year that CONQuest is in Manila. There is no excuse and I took all your good faith in me and wasted it."
One of the steps that AcadArena made was extending the event hours. Initially, CONQuest was supposed to end at around 7 PM, but due to the demand it was extended to 9 PM.
"I need to make sure I help the team deliver on the final day. This starts with making sure as many of you can get into the event and experience what you came for. We’ve extended today’s show hours to 9PM, and we’re actively re-evaluating the queueing process as we go. This is all that I can confidently promise and say right now."
And for fans who were left frustrated with their experience, Banusing promised that that refunds are available.
"With this said, I know everyone cannot experience CQ the way they hoped for. I cannot refund the time and effort that you guys committed for this event, but ticket REFUNDS will happen. This is the very least I can do to start earning back whatever trust you have in me."
"Yesterday, we already distributed refund vouchers to those still in the venue entry queue during the cutoff. We are committed to doing so again if any of you are in line right now and do not want to attend anymore."
"For those that decided to not show up today (and yesterday) or have not claimed their wristband, we will automatically send refund instructions to you within the week via HelixPay."
"Refund details will be available shortly in the official CQ channels."
Then as a reminder, Banusing asked the community to remain civil to the crew members and volunteers, who sacrificed a lot.
"Please do not harass or threaten any of our hard-working team members, crew members, and volunteers; they’ve been working and looking forward to this as much as you did."
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