'They Just Blocked Us': How a Samara Man Recovered His Ticket Money

For the second month, many residents of Samara and Tolyatti have been unable to get refunds for tickets to the ice show «The Nutcracker on Ice with a Symphony Orchestra», postponed for a full year. However, our reader, after several fruitless attempts, managed to get his money back in full. He decided to share his story with everyone who also wants to return tickets to the show.

«I Wanted to Treat Myself and My Family Before the New Year»

The show «The Nutcracker on Ice with a Symphony Orchestra» was organized by LLC «Ice Seasons». According to its creators, the performance combines ballet, figure skating, and symphonic music. The parts were to be performed by Olympic champion Alexei Yagudin and two-time world champion Evgenia Medvedeva.

For 2025, the organizers had planned a large-scale tour across 29 Russian cities. The show was scheduled for Samara on 15 and 16 December 2025 at the Vysotsky Sports Palace. In Tolyatti, the performance was set to be shown three times in one day: 18 December at 11:00, 15:00, and 19:00 at «Lada-Arena». One of the many wanting to see the show was Danil from Samara:

— I bought the tickets well in advance: in August–September. Famous skaters, a good quality show, a big tour… I wanted to treat myself and my family before the New Year. I purchased four tickets through the website Kassir.ru — for myself, my wife, my mother-in-law, and my wife«s aunt. As I later saw, sales in all cities were handled by different agents: Kassir.ru, Yandex, MTS. Along with the service fee, I paid 4,200 rubles (approximately $47 at current rates), — the man said.

However, three days before the show, Samara residents were informed that everything was being postponed, and for a very long time — more than a year. The new dates for the show in Samara are 19 and 20 December 2026. Simultaneously with the postponement, the organizers suspended ticket sales. Soon, the same trouble befell residents of Tolyatti. At the same time, performances began to be postponed and canceled across the country.

— We bought tickets for 16 December, the second day. And on the 13th or 14th, I received an email from Kassir saying the show was postponed. At first, I didn«t even notice for how long. I thought it was moved by about a week. But it turns out it»s to the end of 2026, — Danil told us.

The show«s organizers published a message to viewers on their website:

«Dear viewers! Unfortunately, it is not possible to hold several events of the show »The Nutcracker on Ice with a Symphony Orchestra« on the announced dates for organizational and technical reasons. The show sessions will be postponed to new dates. The session times will remain unchanged. All tickets are valid! Information about new dates and the procedure for refunds, in case they are inconvenient for you, will be published on this page by 25 December 2025. We apologize for the inconvenience caused by the change of plans during this busy New Year period.»

«New Year»s Eve Arrived, and There Was No Response«

Of course, not everyone liked the idea of waiting a whole year. Samara residents began returning tickets en masse. And here the problems started. The services through which people purchased tickets began behaving differently. For example, Yandex Afisha suddenly stated that the refund conditions had changed and now it was necessary to contact the show«s organizer directly.

With Kassir.ru, it was different. At first, everything went smoothly: in the email about the postponement, there was a note that tickets could be returned via a link. It was necessary to write an application to the service«s general director requesting a refund, state the reasons, provide details and the account from which the purchase was paid, and attach the electronic receipt and tickets.

— I sent everything, and I received a notification that they had begun considering the application. New Year«s Eve arrived, and there was no response. I found the Kassir.ru Telegram channel and asked in the comments when the refund would be or at least some answer, — Danil recounts.

From the service«s official account came a reply asking to wait longer. This was explained by the very high number of refund requests. After Danil, other people, including from other cities, began joining the discussion in the comments:

— One woman was writing very actively that she also didn«t know how to get her money back. And after a brief correspondence, they just blocked us on the channel. We could no longer write in the comments or in the organization»s private messages, — Danil said.

It became clear that other ways had to be found. Danil began actively checking news portals to see how things were in other cities. It turned out that in Yekaterinburg, Rospotrebnadzor (Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing) had taken an interest in the situation. But the proposed solution was the same — to write to the show«s organizers directly or through the service where the tickets were bought.

What Method Proved Effective

In the end, Danil decided to get the money back through the bank via a chargeback procedure. This is a consumer protection mechanism that allows a bank card holder to dispute a transaction when direct negotiation with the seller fails.

— I went into my payment history in T-Bank, found the transaction, and there was a button «dispute transaction». A request is created, you attach all the documents. Plus, I described the whole situation in words and attached screenshots of the correspondence with Kassir via email and Telegram, — Danil said.

Soon, the bank responded that Kassir.ru had refused to refund the money. The payment system would assess the situation.

— Finally, a push notification came about the refund from the dispute. The money was transferred to the card in full, — Danil said.