Massive blow for Waalwijk hospitality industry: liter after liter of beer had to be given away during festival
What a disaster for hospitality entrepreneurs on the Plein in Waalwijk: during a major event there last Tuesday, they lost piles of money due to a malfunctioning payment system…
At AVROTROS’s Sterren Muziekfeest, the atmosphere was probably great. Bright sunshine, cheerful music from Dutch artists, and having a beer with your friends or family: that sounds wonderful, right? And for the hospitality entrepreneurs, it was a great opportunity to make up for some of the financial damage of the past few years. But that last part turned out differently.
Digital dough
Everything seemed to be going well until a malfunction occurred in the EventCoin payment system. EventCoin works via an app on your phone, through which users can buy digital coins and order drinks. Early in the evening, the system began to falter.
Taps open
The event organizers then decided to give the drinks away for free in order to prevent the atmosphere from turning sour. You can imagine that this decision caused the participating hospitality entrepreneurs a serious stomachache.
Profit down the drain
Dennis Münninghoff, director of the company behind EventCoin, told Omroep Brabant the following: “We’re pleased that a solution was chosen in the visitors’ best interests… That’s the only thing that matters at such a moment. Now we’re going to look at a solution together with the client. Serving free drinks does indeed cost an enormous amount of money, and we’re discussing that.”
According to him, the system had never experienced problems before. Exactly what went wrong and who will be held financially responsible for the damage is still unclear and is being investigated. The people who still had digital coins in the app will not only have received free beer; EventCoin will also refund their money.
Fingers crossed for the festival summer
We think this is incredibly unfortunate for all the organizing parties involved. Festivals this summer are already struggling with the prospect of staff and material shortages, and a payment app like this should actually help things run more smoothly. But in this way, of course, there’s no fun left for many of those involved…
Also read:
- Festival beer: is it watery stuff or the real deal?
- 10x the best European food festivals this summer
- This incredibly simple mixed drink absolutely belongs on your summer repertoire
Source: Omroep Brabant
