Call Kurtis: Refund confusion over Van Gogh exhibits with nearly identical names
SACRAMENTO - Competing Van Gogh exhibits are causing some confusion in Sacramento. It turns out there are two events with similar names, happening at the same time.
Kevin Rice of Elk Grove says he needed a refund for five tickets he bought to Beyond Van Gogh the Immersive Experience. Initially set for December, the company moved up the dates to November. But, he writes, "Beyond Van Gogh Sacramento has refused to honor my full refund request despite numerous email requests."
We started looking into it and realized that Sacramento has two competing Van Gogh immersive experience exhibits. One is in West Sacramento, now extended through the holidays. The other is at the Safe Credit Union Convention Center for the month of November.
Both feature artwork, but if you zero in on the logos you can see one has the word "Beyond," and the other does not.
We reached out to the companies behind the two exhibits to see what else is different. The Beyond folks say every Van Gogh immersive experience is slightly different and has some similarities since they are using Vincent's paintings to create a multimedia art experience. They're calling their exhibit a global touring immersive experience, having been in 40 cities and seen by over 4 million people.
The people behind the West Sacramento issued a statement as well.
"There should be no confusion: Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience is the definitive showcase of Vincent Van Gogh's work in Northern California. So far, we have welcomed more than 50,000 visitors to West Sacramento," said Executive Producer at Exhibition Hub John Zaller.
After we got involved, Beyond Van Gogh refunded Kevin his $231 and say it will for others who can't make it after the date change. Just email them through their website.