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Customers demand refunds after Taylor Swift-themed event

The hotel block and event series, dubbed “Holiday House,” has drawn complaints and intense social media scrutiny.

NEW ORLEANS — Her daughter, at least, had a good time. But Kathy Pinillo said the money she paid for a Taylor Swift -themed photo shoot this past weekend was too much. 

“When we arrived, everything was just a mess, people everywhere,” she told WWL Louisiana. “I feel like I paid for something that I probably could have gotten for free somewhere.”

The event was part of Holiday House, something of an unofficial Taylor Swift convention held at the Holiday Inn Superdome during the artist’s concert series. The organizer, Rebecca Fox, obtained a block of 191 hotel rooms for visiting “Swifties” and promised events throughout the weekend. 

Since then, many people have taken to social media to complain that they did not get their money’s worth. 

Some shared photos of a $150 brunch that they compared to a hotel continental breakfast. Others pointed out that the pool party cost $50, even though hotel guests could usually use the pool for free. 

Kendall Burke, a DJ who goes by the stage name Warm Advice, said Fox initially tried to book them for that pool party. 

“I had agreed to do these events back in April, and then in October reconfirmed with Rebecca, and then last week, she just kind of cut off all communication,” they said. 

After that, they joined the private Facebook page for Holiday House, and “came across Rebecca saying that she had had to cancel the DJ a couple of weeks ago, but at that time we were still talking about terms and payment and everything, and it was never, never told to me that I had been canceled.”

The Facebook page is full of complaints from customers, tense exchanges between them and Fox, and lengthy explanations and apologies from Fox herself. 

The latest of those posts acknowledges that “the events fell short.” 

Fox wrote that some failures were “her fault,” but also blamed the hotel, which she claimed overcharged her by $17,000 and only just returned the money. She said she “will make this right,” and pleaded with angry customers to “wait a little longer” for refunds. 

Neither Fox nor the hotel’s parent company could be reached for comment Friday. 

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