Pacific National Exhibition Administration — Local services in Vancouver

We attended the Punchbowl Festival in Vancouver yesterday, July 27th, and it was an utter disappointment. First off, the advertised ticket price is false. They claim tickets are $30, but at checkout, they added another hidden fee, which is blatant false advertising. Moreover, the website mentioned cocktails ranging from 1 token to more, depending on the drink. We never saw a 1 token drink, most were 3 or 4 tokens which they conveniently do not mention on their website. This works out to $1.20 per token if paid in cash, but it costs even more if paid by card due to another fee. So the three sips of liquid come to about $5 per pop.

The most disappointing aspect was that about 70% of the vendors were offering premixed drinks like Nude. Why would I pay $3 for a sip of Nude when I can get a single can at BC Liquor for around $2.40? This event was an absolute rip-off. Additionally, the time limit put so much pressure on people since you have to queue for most things. Once we got our tiny taster, we had to immediately queue up at the next stand. How is this enjoyable?

Even worse was the last call warning. It was supposedly done at 3 pm, but the sound from the microphone didn't travel well I guess, because so many people didn't hear it. Then at 3:45 pm, the guy was shouting in the mic for vendors to stop pouring. Many people, including our group, were still queuing and weren't served anymore. Why wouldn't you do the last call again 15 minutes before just to make sure people hear it?

Also, trying then to get our leftover coins refunded didn't work either since they are non-refundable. What a terrible event. In Berlin, I attended a real tasting event where you pay an entrance fee of 40 euros, and all drinks and tasters are free of charge. Since, yes you guessed it, it's an event for brands to promote their products, they let customers taste for free.

We paid just over $100 for two tickets and 20 tokens including tax for about 3 hours, and then had to get another 20 tokens for $23. My friend paid by card and got charged even more.

It was absolutely not worth it at all. We would have been better off spending that money at a distillery or brewery, trying drinks, and having a chat about the products instead of being rushed and queuing for ages.

This is not a tasting event; it's an absolute greedy...

PNE is a landmark of Vancouver, hosting any number of events at this site over the course of a year. We have attended concerts, Monster Truck rally, and even Olympic events at this site. The latest foray was for the Comic and Toy convention and it was done well. Slow processing to get in as it was cash only, but once in , there was the promised land of comics galore and all things animated. As well, one of the few times you can view complete collections of original Star Wars, Thundercats, WWE, GI Joe, and other toys from eras gone by. Nostalgic for sure. There were also updated toys and lights and other paraphernalia based on newer games and comic characters. Would recommend this event for anyone with any inkling of like for anything animated or wanting to add to their collection of comics or toys. The venue itself was just the floor this time. It is generally clean and well lit, with...

Love going to the PNE, but this year there are highly questionable marketing that is occurring with ticket ordering online. Received an email from the PNE with an offer for a Wednesday deal, but the system would not recognize the code. Tried a code from BCAA and received an error message that the code worked but payment could not be processed - and this is the only time my credit card has not been worked online. Contacted the PNE and they instead try to sell us tickets at full price only and wouldn't honour the email offer.

This amounts to highly questionable processes with the PNE and does not raise my trust in their systems and...