If true, I would like to know what we can do to help the organizers offset costs so they aren't stuck with a huge bill and can host TPF again in the future. TPF is my favorite show and I look forward to it all year long. Maybe a raffle of some kind?

https://texaspinball.com/tpf/exhibitors/terms-conditions/

General Admission Cancellation/Refund Policy: Purchased admission(s) are non-refundable, but they are transferable. Should you need to transfer your admission(s) to another person’s name, contact [email protected].

Merchandise Cancellation/Refund Policy: Merchandise purchases are non-refundable, but can be exchanged for a different size/color, subject to availability. Should you need to transfer your merchandise order, contact [email protected] or the registration desk at the show.

Vendor Cancellation/Refund Policy: Space is held for vendors to the exclusion of others. Due to the difficulty in reselling space last-minute, booth space is only refundable up to 30 days prior to the show or if the space is resold.

Sponsor & Advertisement Cancellation/Refund Policy: Sponsorships, web links on the TPF home page and program ads are non-refundable.

Tournament Ticket Refund/No Show Policy: Tournament tickets are refundable until the cutoff date indicated by the tournament rules, provided a wait listed player can replace him/her and according to the graduate refund schedule. Tournament tickets are not transferable. No-shows for the Wizards Tournament are non-refundable.

Special Guest Cancellation: Special guests are subject to cancellation or schedule change, due to professional commitments. Although most guests are available for the duration of the event, due to limited availability some guests are only available for a portion of the event, i.e. a single day. Appearance day(s) will be posted on the website as soon as we know them. Seminars have limited seating capacities and are generally offered on a first come, first served basis. Seminars expected to reach capacity in the seminar room may institute some reserved seating.

Show Cancellation: TPF is a “rain or shine” event. In the unlikely circumstance that the Texas Pinball Festival were forced to cancel due to Acts of God, Government Action or any other reason out of our control, no payments will be refunded, and no credit will be applied toward any future show.

I agreed to the terms then, and still will abide by my agreement with them.

Well it at least looks like Ed put in plenty of language to protect his butt from something crazy. Still probably lost a ton from people who buy tickets the day off and the numerous t-shirts and other merch he already had made.

The real winners are the people who got show discounts. Now they get a couple hundred bucks off with zero plays on the machine.

If they cancel without refunds they'd have a VERY large crowd of pissed off people.

I'm not expecting a ticket refund (even though that's the lion's share of my expenses), but tournament refunds (minus transaction fees) should DEFINITELY be on the table. Most of that money goes to trophies, the cash payouts, and paying the TD (Colin, Ken, whoever is in charge any given year). My understanding is very little of that money goes to actual show expenses.

if they do no refunds i will definitely not go to the event again in an event of losing out on 2 full passes for me and the wife and wizard and classic tournament costs.

edit: glad to see they are initially refunding tournament costs, thank you.

We need to let TPF catch their breath and figure out their game plan. No reason to speculate on refunds/credits/etc. Let them go through the paces and announce their plans.

Doing any chargebacks now will just cause the situation to become worse. Let them announce what they are going to do, then do what you must.

Why don’t we wait and see what Ed does before going crazy about this.
This is a very unusual turn of events

Especially since there has been no official announcement. Yet.

It's in the fine print "no refunds"

Exactly.

Everybody is scrambling right now to figure where they are at. What next. Etc. Etc.

It may take weeks or months to sort out.

Please give the show promoters time to figure a way out of this hell.

LTG : )

Agreed. Can't believe how quickly people are coming out for blood on this.

well, maybe if a bunch of people who typical go to this every year and get screwed outta their money communicate that they are not going to return because of the no refund from then (if it happens), perhaps it may influence their decision to give refunds and not screw over their patrons.

obviously everyone else canceling events influenced their decision to cancel it, so they are definitely being influenced by the reactions of people during this situation.

i am fine with them canceling the event, but not refunding anyone anything is pretty lame in my opinion. as a consumer i speak with my wallet.

For real, let them figure out what they are going to do. We can't go just by some language on the website given the events that have lead to this and the fact that things in the country have changed drastically since last night.

Also, and this is just my opinion, if they need to keep the $50 I already paid for a ticket so they can keep above water and return next year, I'm fine with that. None of this is their fault and I don't want the future of the festival to fall apart because of this. I don't know what their liability is, I don't know the insurance situation, I don't know anything. Except that I know I want to go to TPF next year and every year and I have to trust they will do what is right for them to make that happen. Hopefully others will have the same reaction, but we shall see.

As pkiefert and LTG said, nothing is official yet, no announcements have been posted, no plans have been released. Please try to relax and hang tight for something official, and please try to avoid whipping up everyone into a frenzy.

TPF is the first major pinball event casualty of the COVD-19 outbreak, but not the last. There will be some mis-guided venom at the show organizers early on, but they will survive it. This is a good show run by good people. I have every intention of supporting it in the future.

You can't have TPF without TP.

It is official:

Texas Pinball Festival is cancelled for March 27-29, 2020.

Our hearts are broken to have to announce the 2020 Texas Pinball Festival scheduled for March 27-29 is cancelled. This decision was not an easy one to make, and we know many of you are as disappointed as we are.

The World Health Organization has declared the COVID-19 virus a global pandemic and the safety and security of our guests is our top priority. What affects us even more directly is that President Trump has suspended travel from most of Europe and many of our vendors and special guests have contacted us in the last 24 hours to notify us they would not be coming to TPF due to concern for the COVID-19 threat. In addition, Exhibitors have begun cancelling. We've said it many times... Without the Exhibitors, there is no show.

We cannot express how devastating this is to TPF and to us personally.

We are asking everyone to give us a few weeks to develop a plan, as we work with the venue and our merchants. We hope you can weather this storm with us and be patient. We promise to do everything we can to save the Texas Pinball Festival.

Initially, tournament entries will be refunded and purchased merchandise marked “pick up at the show” will be mailed. We expect to be able to transfer general admission to TPF2021.

We want to thank everyone that stood by us offering their help and support. You don’t know how much that means to us. We will be in touch.

Paul, Kim, & Ed

I laughed at this way more than I care to admit

Much love and best of luck in the planning; you did the right thing and in turn, the pinball community will support you!

Wise move, and most of all a safe one. Even from afar I was looking forward to the show.

Thanks for updating everyone thoughtfully, and as swiftly as you were able.

Here's to an even bigger and better next year!

Thanks for the update. Let us know how we can help. TPF is my favorite show and I look forward to it all year long. Can't wait for the 2021 show.

Maybe we could still order shirts and other goodies? Still raffle the Wonka pin?

I would still do it to support them.

Me too. I'd hit up the raffle if they decided to do it on the side. I was going to buy some tickets anyways.

I'm sure merch will probably be available for a while..they're not just going to burn them, and it might be kind of a novelty item at this point. Knew I should've ordered one of those hoodies lol.

I'm happy with my challenge coin. We need to think of what's good for the event.

You guys are probably doing the right thing. Keep my $55! I’ll be there next year with another $55.

In all my travels throughout the world. I have yet to meet a Texan that would not give the shirt off their back to help a complete stranger.
You will all weather this storm. Please let the community know if and how we can help.

I'm sorry Ed and crew. This must have been a hard decision to make. The right ones usually are.

Best wishes going forward.

LTG : )

Sure was looking forward to meeting LTG and the other Pinsiders I've chatted with on line. As we say, next year in Frisco!

Booo! wasn’t expecting a break in my badges

AC635A51-D292-4C42-AC2B-216F2E206FBE (resized).jpeg

Yeah, I am here to help in whatever way I can. I was bringing two machines to be shown under the pinstadium tent. Raffles for stuff or just sell some of the stuff would help with loss of money getting that huge space. I am in.

Was looking forward to meeting some cool new peeps. 2021 will be bigger and better.

So Sorry guys....this sucks .

Once the dust settles I wonder if companies like Deeproot,JJP,Stern and the others are going to reveal what they were going to at TPF and MSG?

Now we can stay home and play our own hard earned pins!

This is sad news. I was still hoping to go, but maybe this is for the best. I wonder if there will be government help for entrepreneurs like Ed who are hurt by this panic. It’s worth looking into. Just a thought....

Actually the Trump administration is working on helping small to medium size business

My heart breaks for you. I know what a wrenching decision this must have been. Know that I am ready to help you get back on your feet when you are ready. I want this show to be there when I can finally make the trip to Texas.

IS the show venue, hotel & convention hall, etc.
Giving the show promoters and organizers and other guests/vendors a break under the circumstances,
or will they be holding everyone to their contracts.

Not knowing their contracts. We don't know.

Usually if a show cancels, they are out all the money given or promised. Hotel, convention center, guarantee on rooms, food, bars, etc.

Now if the City, state, or Feds close it, then maybe not.

And since the hotel and convention center will be empty, for this and maybe future stuff. No telling how generous or forgiving they might be, or can be. Even empty venues have huge operating expenses.

Remember the Goodfellas quote : "Business bad? Fuck you, pay me. Oh, you had a fire? Fuck you, pay me. Place got hit by lightning, huh? Fuck you, pay me. ".

LTG : )

Something else to consider. Say an event gets held, or not. And doesn't live up to expectations, but pays for everything anyway. Even guarantees on rooms, food, bars, etc.

They may not be welcome back. Happened to a comic convention in Texas some years back. They paid for everything, and weren't allowed to return.

So TPF has a hell of a lot on their plate right now.

I hope it all works out for the best. For TPF. I'd hate for any show to have all this going on. Especially with so much beyond their control.

LTG : )

Except how are they going to get the games?

As someone who ordered a demo deal, I hope to find out tomorrow!

I'll hold it for you

So no TPF means big online sale starts now!

https://www.titanpinball.com/

Same deals as the show:
$60 bulk kits,
$30 universal kits,
No Coupon Code needed.

Use Coupon Code TPF2020 for even better deals than at the show:
$10 Nut Driver sets WITH MAGNETS!
20% off individual silicone including kits from our ring database. 20% off ALL Tools including The new Pinwrench.
20% off Playfield parts such as Star Posts, Corner Washers, Mylar.
20% off Cabinet Parts like Cabinet Protectors, and Lockbar Receiver Decals.

PINMATS for $70!!! If you have tried one, you know there isn't any anti-fatigue mat on the market that even comes close.

And the best part: FREE SHIPPING to the lower 48 states on all orders more than $150. Smaller orders that fit in a flat-rate envelope usually ship for no more than $8.99.

Sale ends Sunday at noon.

Disclaimer: Due to recent events, we are simply out of stock on some items. We are out of 2-1/2" black, Orange flipper and Black Post Sleeve. These options may be missing from the Bulk and Universal kit options. Please watch your Wish List for notifications about out of stock items. No rainchecks! Pick a different color
Pinballs and LEDs have thier own built in discount structure by qty. the 20% off does not apply.

My biggest purchase (along with picking up a pinball machine) was going to be a Color DMD. Hoping they'll pop on with a free shipping deal.

Hopefully now that most civic leaders are mandating closures or canceling of event with more than 250-500 persons,
and the president about to announce a state of emergency, all parties involved can get some relief or have understanding
that canceling of contracts have some mutual solution.

cheers and goodluck to all
stay healthy
wash those hands