One Riverside nonprofit, the Frederick Law Olmsted Society of Riverside, never expected to see a dime of the $29,542 they fundraised last year.
The organization is responsible for planting, landscaping and educational presentations in the village.
“Every year in the fall, we try and have our annual fundraiser, which is a craft beer festival called 'Hop Stop,'” Kim Freeark, a member of the Olmstead Society, told NBC Chicago.
Over the last few years, the nonprofit used an online company called "Brown Paper Tickets" to issue the digital tickets for the Hop Stop.
Freeark said there was never a problem until the 2023 event last September.
Despite 2023 being the most successful year yet for the Olmstead Society, Freeark said the organization never received the money collected by Brown Paper Tickets.
Freeark said no one returned her calls after reaching out to the company over a dozen times.
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She then sent a certified letter to Events.com, which is currently in the process of acquiring Brown Paper Tickets.
Freeark was told the Olmstead Society would receive the money back within 10 days, which never happened. Events.com then stopped responding to Freeark, she said.
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Freeark then decided to contact NBC 5 Responds for help, and it isn't the first time NBC Responds teams have encountered issues with Brown Paper Tickets.
Our NBC Responds teams in Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., New York, and Connecticut have resolved eight viewer complaints with the company in recent years.
In Freeark’s case, Brown Paper Tickets told NBC 5 Responds, in part: “Since the initial phase of the acquisition, Events.com has assisted Brown Paper Tickets with successfully disbursing over $75 million dollars to event organizers worldwide," and “Brown Paper Tickets is now poised to complete payments by the end of May.”
When it comes to Olmstead Society’s payment, Brown Paper Tickets said, ”We're happy to let you know that this payment, as part of our ongoing payment schedule, has been successfully processed. Frederick Law Olmsted Society of Riverside should see the funds in their account tomorrow.”
This time, the money came through.
“We were really thankful, very thankful to NBC 5. I'm convinced we would not have seen this money if it weren't for you guys," Freeark said.
Brown Paper Tickets said that they plan to reintroduce live phone support at some point during 2024.
