Traders left hundreds of pounds out of pocket after an inflatables fun day flopped are demanding compensation.
Businesses and stallholders claim they were misled when they were told up to 4,000 tickets had been sold.
The Extreme Inflatable Bonanza at Crossley Farm in Mirfield on Sunday had been billed as “one of the biggest events in West Yorkshire.”
It promised as many as 10 giant inflatables but there were only half that - and the biggest inflatable went down when a generator burned out. Visitors and traders claimed there was a lack of supervision and youngsters were put at risk.
Several inflatable companies provided bouncy castles and assault courses and one of them, Milnsbridge-based Bouncing Mad, fear their reputation has been damaged.
Traders and stallholders who brought extra stock on the promise of a big attendance were left counting the cost.
A coffee vendor turned down two other events and made a 172-mile round trip - only to sell eight coffees.
Ben Taylor, 27, who runs Bouncing Mad, said he was hired by event organisers Prestige Events and Party Planning to supply four inflatables.
He and his staff set them up and left them at 8.15am only to receive a call from the organisers at 10.10am saying his generator was down.
Ben went to check but found the generator belonged to someone else. At just after noon he received a call from a friend to say he needed to go back as there was no proper supervision and his equipment was being tampered with.
Ben and four staff returned to find all their equipment down and “kids messing with generators.” He decided he and his staff should stay for the afternoon to save the event from disaster.
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“We did our best to pull the event round even though we weren’t contracted to do that,” said Ben.
“The organisation was shocking and the staffing virtually non-existent. We decided to stay and we had our hi-vis vests on and our logos everywhere.
“But that meant it looked like it was our event when we were only trying to save it from disaster. In hindsight I wish we had just packed up and gone.”
Ben will be submitting an invoice for “several hundred pounds”.
“We will never know how much this might cost us in the long run,” he said.
The coffee vendor, who asked not to be named, said he had received an e-mail saying 3,500 tickets had been sold and despite a 172-mile round trip he decided the expense was worth it.
He arrived to find another two coffee traders and he eventually cut his losses at 1.30pm having sold only eight coffees.
“I paid £100 for the pitch,” he said. “One of the other coffee guys paid £75 and we were told they were struggling to sell pitches so they started charging £35. I feel conned.”
Meanwhile farmer Michael Barber, who rented out his land for the event, also wanted to distance himself. “All the events organised by us have gone well,” he said. “This was badly organised.”
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Event organiser Victoria Wallin told the Examiner that “over 1,000” tickets had been sold online and everyone had been refunded through PayPal. She said another £560 had been taken on the gate but it would be difficult to refund people who paid on the day.
She said she had been let down by a generator hire company and that had had a knock-on effect on everything else.
She said all pitch fees would be refunded and she would speak individually to all traders affected over other losses.
Mrs Wallin said she had been subjected to personal abuse on social media and added: “I am taking responsibility. It was my event. It’s massively gone wrong. I tried my best but it was not good enough.
“I’m gutted that people think I am scamming them. It was never my intention to rip anybody off. I am working hard to sort everything out.”
