Better Business Bureau Offers Warning As Dueling Van Gogh Experiences Create Some Confusion For New Yorkers
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Dueling tributes to one of the most famous artists of all time have created confusion and controversy in the New York area.
The exhibit called "Immersive Van Gogh" is impressive and eye-popping. The show, which is coming to New York, allows you to see Vincent Van Gogh's art at enormous scale, filling the room -- similar to the event made popular on the Netflix show "Emily In Paris."
Kathleen Schmidt's 13-year-old daughter saw it.
"She got obsessed with it," Schmidt told CBS2's Steve Overmyer.
READ MORE: 'Immersive Van Gogh' Projects Masterpieces To Allow Up-Close, Detailed Looks At Paintings
Like any mother, Schmidt jumped online to get advanced tickets for her daughter, except she ended up buying tickets for a very similar event called "Van Gogh - The Immersive Experience."
"My question is what the difference is between the two of them? Because the marketing is so similar between them," Schmidt said.
The two shows look similar, but they'll give you a vastly different experience. "Immersive Van Gogh" is an animated, projected installation. "Van Gogh - The Immersive Experience" is seen somewhat through virtual reality headsets.
"Competition is healthy. There's nothing wrong with competition. It's a free world, right?" said Mario Iacampo, a producer of "Van Gogh - The Immersive Experience."
Tickets for his show are being sold through a European-based website called "Fever Up." The Better Business Bureau already has given "Fever Up" the worst rating possible.
"They're listed on BBB.org with an F rating. They have 64 complaints over the last three years, 59 of them just in the last 12 months that we've closed," said Claire Rosenzweig, president and CEO of the New York Better Business Bureau.
"They had some issues in the past," Iacampo said. "At the end, I'm the producer, so I'm the one that controls if somebody is going to be reimbursed if not happy with something. We're not going to play around with that. But I think some things that have happened in the past, maybe they're not so proud of."
Schmidt and her 13-year-old daughter will be going to both shows, but she has a warning for others.
"Read the descriptions really, really closely because it may not be the thing you want to go to," she said.
At the very least, she and her daughter can have their own Van Gogh experience.
Both shows are scheduled to open in June, and tickets for both shows start at about $40.
