HARRISBURG, PA — Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry has announced a resolution to the pending litigation against Great Conventions LLC and its owner, Christopher Wertz. This Easton-based company organized the Great Philadelphia ComicCon event scheduled for April 2020, which was eventually canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The resolution comes as a relief to consumers who purchased tickets for the event and were left in a lurch when the convention was repeatedly rescheduled before finally being canceled in March 2021. The Office of Attorney General filed a lawsuit against Great Conventions and Wertz in November 2021, alleging violations of the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law. The suit claimed that the defendants failed to either reschedule the convention or refund ticket holders.
“If an event is canceled, ticket holders deserve their money back, plain and simple,” Attorney General Henry stated. She added that the defendants appeared to have attempted to circumvent the law by indefinitely postponing the event to retain the money they had garnered from ticket sales.
According to the terms of the consent petition, the defendants are required to pay $20,000 in restitution. This amount will be distributed amongst consumers who bought tickets to the event and have since lodged complaints with the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General. Furthermore, Great Conventions LLC will be permanently barred from organizing or selling tickets to conventions or any other public events in Pennsylvania. They will also be prohibited from engaging in practices that violate the Consumer Protection Law further.
For consumers to be eligible for restitution, they need to file a consumer complaint form before May 10, 2024, and attach a copy of their receipt indicating their purchase of a ticket to the event.
The Consent Petition was filed in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas by Senior Deputy Attorney General Debra Djupman Warring.
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