Howler Reviews 67

Pervasive email practices. The unsubscribe link doesn't work even though it displays a successfully unsubscribed message. I have evidence of multiple emails received after multiple attempts to unsubscribe. I'll add that I likely never even subscribed to howler to start with and am probably only on the mailing list after another obscure company was acquired. Complaint filed with the ICO.

Many events use this company but I find it a frustrating process to purchase tickets through them or to have any remaining credits returned (which they will just keep if you don’t reclaim it soon after an event is finished).

It is ridiculous all the rules they have. Charging extra fees to buy tickets online which they argue are to process banking fees etc (which then doesn’t work). I tried buying tickets online on 4 separate occasions today and have eventually resorted to ordering the tickets online and have to go to a Spar or other partners to pay for the tickets - which I expect to have its own complications. The fact that their system doesn’t want to work for online payments I have to pay an additional fee (additional to that mentioned earlier) to go and pay physically at one of their vendors.

Really wish the events companies will start using companies that have a customer friendly approach.

I am having a terrible experience with Howler. I purchased 10 tickets, but I keep encountering an error message whenever I try to access them. Several of my friends are facing the exact same issue.
​On top of that, the platform seems full of bugs; for example, it is currently impossible to edit my phone number in the settings. Worst of all, customer service seems not to care. This issue has been ongoing for over a week, and I have received zero updates or assistance.
​I do not recommend this platform. (#1667086 and #1666250)

Reference number: W42VCC6WCQCR1TE1

What an absolute joke of a company. I bought two tickets to Parklive festival and paid extra upgraded refund. I was not able to attend so I requested a refund and was rejected even though I fell into terms of service.

Never buy tickets from them unless you are 110% certain you will be attending. Otherwise you will lose all your money including the extra you pay for the refund upgrade

I attended Milpark German School’s Beerfest in May 2025. I loaded R1,000 onto my Howler card but never used it and later misplaced the card. I recently found it, but was unable to cash out the balance because more than 30 days had passed, as indicated by Howler’s message. When I contacted Howler support, I was informed that “the event has now closed, and we are no longer processing any further requests,” and was advised to contact the event organisers directly.

However, Kedibone, a support manager went above and beyond securing my cash out. Thank you Kedibone!

The Howler company condones fraud and crime, I reported that an alcoholic beverage I didn’t order was charged on my account and all they said is sorry we do not offer refunds on food and drinks, so in other words you are okay with customers money being stolen, that is disgusting and unacceptable and unprofessional, I will be escalating this to the consumer ombudsman and opening a criminal case if I have to

I bought tickets, few days before the event, my grandfather passed away and I had to travel to Limpopo. I therefore had to cancel and request for refund. I understood the policy and there was a part it spoke about special circumstances. The passing of my grandpa is a circumstance i could not have planned for. It was my first time going there and I even bought an outfit because I was looking foward to the event. I was paid different percentages of the full price with no explanation. I called and sent emails to Kedibone M who is a manager. At first she said she will request for 50%, unless I send a death certificate. I did that, which was really a sensitive and personal issue. She again just disregarded that and said I must DM the event owners. Like there is no sympathy nor understanding of the circumstance. I still want my refund but the response is so arrogant. I plan to really go all out with this because I could not have buried my grandfather, thats a special circumstances. Unhappy client. Looking at all the platforms, your reviews are so bad,there is a level of arrogance in how things are done in this company. I have all the information I need to take this on.

Reference: 23AKUPNQDJ1HCBKU

Bought 6 tickets to comic con JHB and paid extra for a "Refundable Ticket Service". Later on I was notified by two of my family members that they will be unable to attend. After this, I requested a refund for two of my tickets. The portal rejected my refund. Been back and forth with howler support for two days and no success. As of today, 30 August, the event is scheduled to take place on the 31 August, no refund. In short, don't purchase tickets from these people if you are not 100% certain you will attend the event. They will 100% not give you any refund.

Terrible service, non existent refund service. Please don't bother paying additional for insurance in case of cancellation.

I attended an event where the automatic cashout had a due date. After the due date, there was the link to the Howler's website to ask for a manual late cashout.
I did the request and I discovered there was another deadline to do so, and now I can't have my money back.

This information was not mentioned ANYWHERE, they have all the information they need and just not doing it. Just not getting how's possible.

SSSSO BAD

Made paid via app using instant eft option. Amount deducted immediately for R7200, but no tickets issued. Proving to be a long arduous business dealing with their support to try and get this sorted. Day 3 and waiting.
EDIT On Monday 4 August, tickets have been issued. Apparently instant eft is not instant, it takes a few days before they allocate tickets. Shout out to Amala for assisting where 2 other support staff were most unhelpful. But all sorted now

Horrible company and disgusting service.

Booked a VIP ticket and paid extra for their ‘Refund Protect’, knowing there was a chance I might not make it (Even though the booking page of the event actually marketed the ticket as fully refundable, even without the Refund Protect!!). When I then had to ask for a refund, they refused completely. They would not even let me move to a different date.

I get that they have terms and conditions, but I don’t understand why they would go out of their way to piss off and screw over their client’s most ardent customers when it would be easiest to simply allow the date change.

Also, WTF is the point of Refund Protect when you still refuse to offer any refunds?

I hope this company goes bankrupt.

OMG the worst!! Pathetic! I’ve been trying to get a refund for almost 2 weeks.

I had an issue with a card which I feared could not be resolved, but I tried anyway with Howler. Nompumelelo handled my request swiftly and in a straight-forward and easy manner. It was so refreshing to have this sort of customer care which typically seems non-existant these days! Well done Howler team, you've nailed it! And thank you VERY much for helping me resolve my issue. It means so much to me!

Excellent service by Nompumelelo from Howler team. She responded in less than 2hrs when I was struggling to receive a transferred ticket from another purchaser.
She e-mailed the ticket directly to me...

Howler, you will continue to be famous

Thanks, 1000 times

I attended the Corona Sunset Festival and had leftover funds on my wristband. I wasn’t aware there was a specific time window for retrieving the cash. After checking my emails, I saw they sent just one email notifying me that cash-out was open, which I missed. There were no follow-up reminders. One email… seriously?

Curious, I looked into why any event organiser would use Howler, as this feels like a scam to me. Then I read on their website that leftover funds are sent to the event organisers. So, it turns out that Corona’s festival organisers are happily pocketing an extra bonus.

Judging by the reviews on Trustpilot, I’m not alone in this experience. I honestly don’t understand how this can be legal.

I purchased a ticket through Howler but I didn't receive my ticket for some reason. I contacted Howler about it and and was put in contact with Nompumelelo N. on email. Nompumelelo was quick to resolve the issue for me which I really appreciated since I bought my ticket 1 day before the event was happening. Thank you for the quick turnaround and great customer support Howler.

Horrible, I topped up my ticket using EFT but when tried to buy food and drinks it had zero balance. Spoke to Howler agents at the event they transferred my funds to another wristband, didn’t use all the funds so I tried to get my refund. Suddenly they can’t track the wristband which they’re transferred my funds into, they are asking for a physical wristband in order to give me my money back.