How to claim refunds after NX Newcastle World Cup fanzone shambles on Friday night

Football fans who attended a chaotic screening of the World Cup at a fanzone in NX Newcastle on Friday night are still awaiting promised refunds from organisers.

The newly converted venue in the city centre held a viewing party for England's match against the USA last week but the event was plagued by technical errors with commentary minutes behind pictures and the screen completely cutting out for a large part of the second half.

Attendees were left fuming with many throwing drinks at the screen and on stage, whilst at one moment security angrily charged through the crowd to have a verbal altercation with a supporter who had pinched a toy World Cup amidst the chaos.

After the match, NewcastleWorld heard from disappointed fans outside the venue, many of whom called for refunds. One said: "Shocking! They lost connection like five times and for fifteen minutes the game wasn't even on. We need a refund. I think it was the first time they put it on, to be honest."

Others described the fanzone at NX Newcastle as "a shocker" and added that a refund is "the least they can do after that". On the same night, a statement was issued by the venue, promising a refund update. It read: “We are very disappointed with the technical problems experienced tonight with the Fan-Zone event. We are now working with the event promoter to establish precisely why the football screening was not delivered as expected.

“NX would like to apologise to all fans who had such a disappointing experience. We would like to add that the event was not promoted by NX but by a promoter with a long-standing track record of delivering sports events in the city. We will provide an update regarding ticket refunds shortly.”

Come Tuesday, many frustrated customers were still to receive any contact and took to social media to demand an update from NX Newcastle. NewcastleWorld asked the venue for an update regarding refunds and was told that any ticket-holders from Friday evening should contact [email protected].

NX Newcastle will host another fanzone event on Tuesday evening when Gareth Southgate's side take on Wales in their final match of the World Cup group stage. The venue has promised that technical glitches from Friday evening have all been fixed and look forward to welcoming football fans. Organisers said: "We’re so disappointed about the technical issues on Friday. We won’t let you down again everyone and we’re sorry. We’ve rectified the issues and the screen is bigger and better.”