Cambridge City Council (23 002 905)
Category : Other Categories > Leisure and culture
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 20 Jun 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council failed to accurately advertise a music concert. The Council is not responsible for the issues raised.
The complaint
- Ms X complains the website advertising a concert at a Council owned venue was misleading. She says that as a result, she and her husband attended the worst concert of their lives for which she paid nearly £160.
- She also complains the Council’s complaints handling was poor.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We cannot investigate a complaint where the body complained about is not responsible for the issue being raised. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(1), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Ms X complains about the setlist at a concert she attended. She said the artist only played their “obscure and better forgotten” songs from their unsuccessful albums. She said if the concert was only going to feature a couple of her hit singles, this should have been made clear in the promotional material.
- The artist was on an international tour to promote a new album which was accompanied by official promotional material. Councils cannot be held responsible for this material or the tracks an artist choses for their setlist. It was up to Ms X to do her research before buying the tickets if she only wanted to hear particular songs by that artist. In any case, such matters are subjective and other concert goers are likely to have had differing views, which again the Council cannot be held responsible for.
- It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaints procedures where we are unable to deal with the substantive matters. In any case, the Council has offered Ms X a £50 voucher. We would have been unlikely to recommend any financial payment if we had investigated and so there is nothing more to achieve by looking into this matter.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the Council is not responsible for the issues she raised.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman