Trip to see 'Beautiful' turns ugly for group of seniors who couldn't get refund

NEW YORK (WABC) -- A trip to see the Broadway musical "Beautiful" turned ugly when the show shut down, leaving a group of 16 seniors out thousands of dollars.

The group had already shelled out hundreds each to a tour operator for transportation and tickets and getting their refunds seem "So Far Away" -- until they called 7 On Your Side.

"We all love the music, it's our time," said Rosemary Matthews.

But it was too late to see the musical based on singer Carole King's rise to stardom. The show closed in mid-October last year.

Back in July, her group of friends all sent in checks totaling more than $3,000 to Coole Tours and Travel. In order to lock in their Broadway One Day Blast, which included bus transportation and tickets to the Dec. 8 show.

When the show closed, the tour company sent a partial refund of $500. But the 16 seniors were still owed more than $2,600 -- months after "Beautiful" went dark.

Matthews admits she never got a contract with a refund policy, which is a mistake, plus was alarmed to get an email stating she cancelled -- when it was the show which closed the curtain.

The tour company initially offered to switch the group to another show.

"But I told them, we don't want to see something else, we would just like our money back," Matthews said.

After months of waiting for a full refund, she called 7 On Your Side. So we called Coole Tours.

The operator blamed a ticket wholesaler for the problem, saying the broker hadn't returned the funds.

He promised the company would send the balance back to the active group of seniors ASAP.

The group then received a surprise in the mail -- a full refund of $2,613.50 -- and we got a special thank you from the group enjoying "One Fine Day" on a different trip.

"Thank you 7 On Your Side," said the happy group of seniors.

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