Sacramento-area Van Gogh show is delayed, organizers say. This isn’t the first time

Just after updating its “secret location” on its website, “Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience” postponed its opening day, according to organizers.

The producers of the digital art show sent emails to ticket holders on Friday, announcing its location at 31 15th St. in West Sacramento. Set to open June 22, it now plans to open on Thursday, June 30.

Exhibition Hub, a worldwide art experience curation company, and Fever, an event ticketing service, are behind these events.

“Despite our best effort to keep in time with the scheduled opening, we unfortunately have to postpone this due to unexpected production delays,” the organizers wrote in an email obtained by The Bee.

John Zaller, executive producer at Exhibition Hub for shows in the United States, said that the hold up is because of external forces, including roads being dug up in front of the venue and ensuring that power is generating the building correctly.

A Bee photographer observed the site on Wednesday and it was still a work in progress.

The company only announced the location after The Bee found the West Sacramento building and reached out for more information.

“What we do across the country, is we find these unique buildings and we take them from what they were — in this case, essentially an empty warehouse that hadn’t really been occupied in any major way for several years and we transform into these incredible art experiences,” Zaller said.

And in some instances, he said, as they get into constructing, it may require more time than was previously scheduled.

He said the one week delay in West Sacramento will be “well worth” it.

Zaller said people who bought tickets for the June 22 opening day were informed ahead of time of the postponement. They will be refunding tickets, adding on their email to customers that there’s no need to worry as they “will inform you as soon as possible when tickets become available again.” Customers also have the option to use their paid tickets for another date and time.

On the show’s website, individuals can still purchase tickets for the month of July through October.

Other shows delayed

This isn’t the first time for this specific digital experience by Exhibition Hub and Fever.

The same show was planned to open in Cincinnati on June 1, but was moved to June 4 due to “unexpected production delays,” according to The Enquirer. Zaller said the venue in Cinncinati was an old building that hadn’t been occupied for at least five years.

“You take on an old building and you get in there and you want it to be the perfect experience,” he said. “And sometimes it takes a little bit more time.”

Issues with production has occurred with other similar exhibits, such as the “Immersive Van Gogh” in Kansas City, Missouri, after 100,000 tickets were sold without an official venue.

Better Business Bureau reviews

In March 2021, the Better Business Bureau, a non-profit organization that promotes marketplace trust, issued a news release about the handful of different art exhibits that offer the experience of watching projections of Vincent van Gogh’s post-impressionist paintings across North America. They include: the “Immersive Van Gogh,” “Imagine Van Gogh,” “Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience” and “Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience,” which is slated to appear in West Sacramento in November.

The bureau urged customers to purchase tickets carefully and pointed out that “Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience” by Fever has garnered multiple consumer complaints.

Ten years in business, Fever is not BBB accredited — the organization’s way of vetting a company — and is noted to have a “Pattern of Complaints.”

“Common issues reported by consumers are problems with the events, such as canceled or rescheduled venues, allegedly sometimes at the last minute or with no communication at all about the change in status of the event,” the bureau wrote, adding that consumers have criticized the long delays for fulfilling refunds and communication difficulties.

According to the BBB Scam Tracker, multiple reports about Fever’s Van Gogh productions, as well as others, have been sent in by consumers in the past year.

On Aug. 29, 2021, a person bought tickets for nearly $90 for a Van Gogh experience in Boston, but a week before the show started, their tickets were canceled without a refund due to organizers still preparing the exhibition location and needing to delay the opening day, according to a scam report.

Another person reported on Sept. 25, 2021, that after buying two tickets for almost $100 to a Van Gogh event in Seattle, they received no word on where the secret location was, despite the show already starting, and they couldn’t get ahold of the organizers to ask questions.

“Don’t worry” was the repeated response Marc Olson got when he asked about the location of the Sacramento showing for the summer, he told The Bee in a phone interview.

Olson bought two tickets for $79.80 when they went on sale in March, he said, excited to see the exhibit after having heard positive reviews. Weeks later and into May and June, he contacted Fever multiple times for more information about the secret location, but didn’t get a solid answer, other than that it was to be “a central location,” would be announced soon and that the producer Exhibition Hub did not provide Fever with further information.

Olson asked for a refund on the tickets, which are generally non-refundable except for special circumstances. The request was denied the three times that Olson asked, he said, until this week when he contacted Fever again and informed them that he was in contact with The Bee.

Olson declined to share emails with The Bee.

The Bee reached out to Fever. A representative of Exhibition Hub and Zaller responded.

Zaller said he is aware of the issues consumers have with Fever, but added that “in every instance where there’s been any kind of concern by a guest, Fever has addressed that very quickly. And Fever has an excellent track record for addressing guests’ concerns.”

According to BBB, the bureau reached out to request Fever to voluntarily cooperate and address the complaint patterns on Sept. 16, 2021. The business responded to the bureau, detailing steps they are or will take to remedy the issues, including increasing support team employees and changing policies for scheduled events.

“As of March 2022, BBB is still noting persistent issues with the insufficient customer service to appropriately handle the problems consumers are experiencing with the company’s offerings, such as event cancellations and delayed refunds.,” the bureau said.

‘A Van Gogh summer in Sacramento’

Having a “secret location” has been the exhibit’s overall approach, Zaller said, as it creates buzz and intrigue. But the producers took mystery to another level for this year’s show in Sacramento.

“What’s been really fun for us here in West Sacramento is we kind of let the location announce itself,” Zaller said. “By along Jefferson Boulevard here, putting this massive Van Gogh mural up slowly over time.”

The Bee reported about the location on Wednesday, after a Bee journalist visited the warehouse.

Zaller said the production company is working closely with the mayor of West Sacramento to put together a “Make a day of it” in the city, which they plan on sharing with residents soon.

“It’s an opportunity for the whole metro region to rediscover West Sacramento to become a tourist in their own town and go to a part of town and explore it and experience it in a different way,” he said.

Mayor Martha Guerrero told The Bee “We are providing information to highlight venues for Van Gogh Immersive Exhibit participants to dine and enjoy additional opportunities in the city.”

This story was originally published June 24, 2022 at 5:28 PM.