Scots music fans say they've been left in limbo after being unable to receive refunds for a festival which was cancelled at short notice.

The Midnight Sun Weekender festival, headlined by Primal Scream, John Fogerty and The Pretenders, was due to take place at Lews Castle between May 25 and May 27, but was cancelled little more than a week prior to the event.

At the time Ian MacArthur, one of the organisers, assured "anyone who has purchased tickets will be able to claim a refund".

However, those who have bought tickets through the platform Skiddle say they've been unable to get their money back.

Janet MacDonald, who lives on Stornoway said: "The refund process is turning into a bit of s***show.

“There were rumours going around a couple of weeks before that it was going to be cancelled.

“I’d bought a ticket just when it launched because I know with those things the initial ticket sales are often what decides whether it’ll go ahead or not.

Read More: 'Deeply disappointed': Organisers announce cancellation of Midnight Sun festival

“I bought the ticket at full price which was just under £300, I checked the terms & conditions and the Skiddle terms and conditions are very clear, if the event is cancelled you get a refund, usually within 48 hours or at least a communication within 48 hours.

“Midnight Sun was cancelled, I never heard anything. I kept trying to get in touch with them and they’ve got this chatbot thing, you can’t get a phone number.

“I kept getting these automated messages saying ‘we’ll be in touch, no need to contact us’.

“I eventually got a real person and they sent me a message saying, ‘thank you for your patience we’re working with the event organisers’.

“If they’re expecting to get money back off the organisers to refund us I can tell you that’s not going to happen."

An application to strike Midnight Sun Festivals Ltd from the register was submitted to Companies House on May 24, but withdrawn on June 8.

Its most recent balance sheet up to August 31, 2022 showed £100 cash at hand.

The Herald:

Margaret Brennan had booked with her daughter to travel to Lewis for the festival, only for it to be cancelled at short notice.

She too is still waiting to receive a refund from Skiddle.

Ms Brennan said: "When I originally saw the line-up I was a bit dubious, because I know the islands and I wondered how they’d manage to facilitate it.

“When they offered the payment plan I thought I’d sign up to that and then if it got cancelled I’d be alright.

“It came off month by month, and when it came off on May 1 I thought ‘that’s ok then it’s not getting cancelled’.

“They cancelled just the week before it, I checked the terms and conditions on Skiddle and it said if the event is cancelled you get a full refund so I wasn’t too worried.

“Then I got the email saying it was cancelled, they put a post up on the Facebook saying we’d be contacted within 48 hours. The 48 hours came and went, so I emailed the Midnight Sun but I never got a reply.

“I got an email from Skiddle last week saying they were in negotiations with the promoters but there’s been no outcome yet.

Read More: Doune the Rabbit Hole 2023 cancelled as organisers 'beyond devastated'

“I live in Lanarkshire so I had booked the accommodation and I’d booked the ferry. I went, because I’d booked my holidays off work and couldn’t change them.

“If we tried to change the ferry you’re coming into high season so the chances are you wouldn’t get on again, I’d booked an Airbnb so we just went for the four days.

"There’s no line of communication, that’s the problem. Skiddle are saying they need to claim it back from the promoters and there’s nothing they can do.

“The one email I had for Midnight Sun isn’t responding so you’re kind of left in limbo. I paid the money to Skiddle, if they’ve paid it to the festival then that’s not really my problem.

“I paid it to the people who were selling the tickets, it’s almost as if no-one wants to take responsibility.

“It’s a sad state of affairs, people are out of pocket. The two weekend tickets cost me £600, the accommodation was something like £700, the ferry was close to £200.

“We went anyway, because we thought ‘do we lose the whole thing?’.

“Skiddle appears not to want to know and the Midnight Sun line of communication has disappeared, the Facebook page has been taken down, they’re not responding to any emails.

“It kind of puts people off the islands, because it was a Stornoway-created event and people are saying ‘if that’s the way they treat you then we won’t be facilitating them for anything else’.

“I don’t think it’s their fault though, I think if Skiddle took the responsibility of selling tickets the buck stops with them."

A Skiddle spokesperson said: "We are in the process of handling the event cancellation."

The organisers of Midnight Sun did not respond to a request for comment.

Miss MacDonald said: "When the tickets went on sale first of all they were £300, which is quite a lot but you’re trying to support something fairly big.

“Seeing The Pretenders play in front of the castle would be pretty cool, you know?

"So the pricing was bad from the beginning, the operations were poorly set up. They hadn’t locked in the electricity supply in the castle – the week before they cancelled they were trying to get generators onto the island. It was just a s***show, really badly organised.

“There’s a lot of bad chat here but I don’t want to get involved in the gossip – I just want my money back.

“If they’ve taken the money then own up and say that, just say ‘we’re sorry we can’t pay people back’.

"There are thousands of people in the same position, we want to know where the money went and what’s going on with Skiddle."