Sziget Advertises Bilet.Ro’s Failings

Hungary’s Sziget Festival is buying space in a Romanian entertainment paper to say Bilet.ro owes it money and to warn others not to deal with the Bucharest-based ticket company.

Having spent nearly eight months chasing Bilet.ro chief George Weiner for the euro 37,000 still owed for last year’s ticket sales, Sziget chief exec Gabor Takacs appears to have run out of patience.

The ad was to appear in the June 11 edition of the 60,000-circulation Sapte Seri, a weekly paper in Bucharest and Oradea with bimonthly sister papers in the provinces.

Weiner has never disputed he owes the money and has made several pledges to pay it, although he’s apparently never met any of the several payment dates he promised.

He’s promised immediate payment on a number of occasions, the last time by June 4, and once sent the festival what appeared to be confirmation that a bank transfer had been made. But Sziget says it has received nothing.

Word on the Romanian music industry grapevine is that Bilet.ro and parent company Interactive Entertainment are both in financial trouble.