Beachdowners set Anne Robinson on organisers

The still-not-forthcoming refunds for those who bought tickets for Beachdown last year has led to growing disgruntlement.

Now, the ticket holders are getting desperate:

Angry customers are now writing to BBC's Watchdog in the hope that an investigation will hold the organisers accountable and reveal where their money has gone.

A FaceBook group called Beachdown Letdown has 179 infuriated members.

One, Hannah Woodruff, last week called on them to follow her lead and write to the TV programme, which several agreed to do.

There seems to be an acceptance that there's no money to be had - according to The Argus, the approach is more educational:

Tim Knight, who is owed £184, wrote to Watchdog saying: “Viewers of Watchdog who fancy attending a music festival need to be aware of the risks they run in buying tickets.

“Watchdog could do a great public service by getting to grips the organisers of Beachdown 2009 who have left many people feeling cheated.”

To be honest, it's not just people buying tickets for festivals, is it? If you buy tickets for anything, there's a chance that Michael Jackson might die or the aircrew go on strike or the snow makes it impossible, and you're betting that the organisers have a plan to refund you if things go wrong.

In fact, isn't running a story on Watchdog suggesting that people think twice before buying tickets for smaller events going to depress an already-difficult market and possibly wind up with more festivals going down, making the problem worse?

Doherty meets Robinson?

Sadly, since it's sourced from the Daily Express, we're not convinced that Pete Doherty is trying to get on The Weakest Link. Even though we'd love to believe he thinks its the way back to Kate Moss' heart:

"People might not realise it but I am well educated and well read,” explained Doherty. “I can prove to people there is more to me than just drugs."

What 'people' would not know that Doherty had a good education? Presumably if you were unaware of his upper-middle class background, you might be slightly surprised that he went to good school and achieved a trilby-hat full of certificates, but Kate Moss, surely, would already know this? And if you wanted to prove your brains, wouldn't you aim for something slightly higher than the pub-quiz level of The Weakest Link: a Mastermind, maybe, or a stint on Radio 4's Round Britain Quiz at the very least?

Even if Pete did win the Weakest Link, he'd still be fighting the aura of stupidity created by telling the Daily Mirror how horrible Moss was would be the way to win her back.