Customers demand refunds after Steve Harvey’s Sand & Soul Festival is canceled

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    NASHVILLE (WSMV) — What was supposed to be a fun vacation in the Dominican Republic with a well-known comedian turned out to be not so funny.

Steve Harvey’s Sand & Soul Festival promised party-goers the time of their lives, but instead, customers said the trip got canceled and they never got a refund.

Sandra Glover couldn’t wait to get on the trip and party in the sun with Harvey, a popular comedian and game show host.

“We’ve never been before, so we decided we were going to take a girls’ trip and go to the festival and hang out in the Dominican Republic,” Glover said.

Glover said she paid over $1,400 for the first of four payments, but that lavish vacation in the sand set for Labor Day 2020 quickly went to dust.

The pandemic postponed the trip, then organizers canceled it all together. But months later, Glover still can’t get money back.

“There was no website. The website was taken down,” Glover said.

She’s not alone.

“They’re not responding to your emails and no one is answering the phone calls in the office either,” ShaDonna Middleton said.

Middleton, who lives in the Atlanta area, is having the same problem – no trip and no money back.

“Pay us back our money that we have put into this trip because at this point, sometimes I feel like you’re living off the money I gave you, and others,” Middleton said.

News4 Investigates found several other customers in the same boat.

The NBC affiliate in Chicago interviewed multiple people desperately trying to get their refunds. The investigation led us from Nashville to Atlanta.

When News4 visited the Steve Harvey Sand & Soul Festival office, no one was there at the moment.

Brandon R. Williams of Steve Harvey Global issued an email statement:

“We are in the process of refunding customers their deposits for Sand & Soul. We have already refunded approximately $300,000 back to hundreds of customers and all customers that are due refunds will be repaid. I have made the event management company that is processing the refunds aware of the fact that the individuals that you are reporting should be placed at the top of the queue. I would anticipate that their refunds will be processed within the next 1-2 weeks.”

Middleton and Glover hope that’s true because both women said this entire experience, one that was supposed to bring joy and memories with their favorite comedian, is no laughing matter anymore.

“We do make mistakes, but can you please own up to your mistakes,” Middleton said.

Both ladies said the experience leaves a bad taste in their mouths, but they still love Steve Harvey. All they want is some transparency.

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