Imagine you had bought tickets specifically to see your favourite band at a music festival, only to discover they are no longer performing after being dropped from the bill. 

That just happened to hundreds of people who will not get to see Deep Purple, Placebo, Dead Kennedys, Gang Of Four, Gyroscope, norPetch at the Pandemonium Rocks festival tour later this month in Melbourne, Newcastle, Sydney, Gold Coast, and Brisbane.

Acts including Blondie and Alice Cooper remain on the bill.

So are ticketholders entitled to a refund?

Does a partial refund cut it?

The organiser of Pandemonium Rocks is offering a partial refund of $70, or a complimentary general admission ticket, or a "limited edition" hoodie.

This is unwelcome news for superfans such as Rebecca Williams, 51, who only brought tickets and flights from her home in Perth to see Placebo at Pandemonium's Melbourne event.

"I was only going to see Placebo. I first heard them in 1996 when I lived in London and I just loved them from the minute I heard them," she said.

"I've followed them everywhere. I've seen them 18 times live around the world.

"My dog's called Molko, after the lead singer Brian Molko.

"My number plates on my car are 'Placebo'."

Ms Williams says she had not heard anything back from her attempts to contact event promoter Apex Entertainment for a refund.

"I think it's disgusting," she said.

Event 'redefined' to save it

Musician and ticketholder Georgiana Mannion also only paid to see Placebo and Dead Kennedys at the Gold Coast show.

"I was incredibly disappointed," she said.

"I immediately knew that I wanted to do a refund on my ticket as soon as I found out."

The 39-year-old Brisbane resident said she had also been stone-walled in her quest for her money back.

"I contacted the organisers, I sent them an email asking for a refund because the bands that I wanted to see were no longer playing and I didn't get a response," Ms Mannion said.

She said she tried another five times, and also contacted the booking platform she had used who referred her to the festival organisers.

Event promoter and CEO of Apex Entertainment, Andrew McManus, declined to speak to the ABC about the issues of refunds.

Previously, Mr McManus said ticket sales, like the now-cancelled Splendour In The Grass, were not as high as was expected.

"So, we had two choices — either to pull the pin, or redefine it and ensure we still have a great event and a great product and bring it back to one stage," he said.

"And that was the route we decided to take.

"Others, like Groovin The Moo and what have you, they just pulled the pin and said 'no, we're done'.

"We decided that we're going to keep going."

Ms Mannion has been so frustrated by the process she started an online petition which drew at least 900 signatures.

"I'm incredibly disappointed as a ticket holder, and as somebody in the music industry themselves," she said.

What does the law say?

An Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) spokesperson said customers may have the right to a full refund if an event was significantly changed, including change to a headline act.

"This will depend on the reason for the cancellation or change, and the nature of the change," the spokesperson said.

"Examples of a major change might be where the headline act at a festival is changed, or where the location of a show is changed from one city to another."

The ACCC urged customers to raise their issues directly with the event organiser in the first instance and then contact their state consumer protection agency.

OK, so what does that mean?

Dean of Griffith Law School professor Therese Wilson said the situation came down to a question of whether the issue could be called a "major failure".

"It would be regarded as a major failure if a reasonable consumer would not have purchased the ticket if they'd known of the changes," she said.

Professor Wilson said in the case of Pandemonium Rocks it came down to the loss that the consumers had suffered.

"It comes down to a question of whether that is a reasonable compensation for loss, or is this such a major failure that people really aren't getting what they paid for at all? In which case, they would be entitled to a full refund," she said.

She said the changes made to the festival provided an argument of a major failure and a good case for people to get their money back if that was what they preferred.

Professor Wilson compared the situation to the pandemic.

"During COVID there were a lot of cancellations, and it was very clear then that the money just had to be refunded," she said.

"I think these organisers are just desperately trying to go into some sort of damage control and see what they can salvage.

"I do think that there is a case that a reasonable consumer would not have purchased the tickets in the first place, given the changes that have been made."

She recommended those who want ticket refunds contact the Office of Fair Trading.

A spokesperson for Consumer Affairs Victoria and Queensland's Office of Fair Trading said they would not comment on individual businesses. 

The new dates and locations for Pandemonium Rocks are:

• Saturday, April 20 at Caribbean Gardens, Melbourne
• Tuesday, April 23: Alice Cooper, Blondie, Psychedelic Furs, Wolfmother side show at Entertainment Centre, Newcastle
• Thursday, April 25 (Anzac Day) at Cathy Freeman Park, Sydney Olympic Park Precinct, Sydney
• Saturday, April 27 at Broadwater Parklands, Gold Coast (new venue)
• Sunday, April 28 ay Eatons Hill Hotel, Brisbane (new venue from Sandstone Point Hotel, Bribie Island). Blondie not appearing