CHARLOTTE, N.C. — More than 10,000 people bought tickets and tried to attend the first ever Untappd Beer Festival, but thousands left wanting their money back after their experience.
"I thought it would be really busy, you know? I thought it'd be a lot of fun," said Zach McDonald, an attendee of the event.
He and his friends had looked forward to the event for weeks, but shortly after he arrived at 4 p.m., he said things quickly went south.
"I'm in line for about thirty minutes, I get about halfway to the check-in spot, and then we hear some thunder and someone on the loudspeaker on the inside," McDonald said.
It was a thunderstorm with lightning strikes moving through the area. Many said they understood the reason to move people from the outdoor field into the concourse, but they weren't expecting to stop drinking.
"It said rain or shine on the Facebook page. It said if the weather was really bad, they would move everything inside on the concourse, all the beer tents would be on the inside -- they never did that," McDonald said.
Soon, the festival was viral on social media.
@Mandolyn221 wrote, "We all want refunds. Time to suck it up and save whatever credibility you have left and make it happen. This festival was a complete disaster..."
@coltbolt tweeted out, "$50 to get in. 47 minutes of drinking = three 1.5 ounce samples of beer. Seriously, no contingency plan for Charlotte weather..."
"I just don't think they were prepared for this. I think it was negligence at best," said McDonald.
Some people complained about the small, plastic cups that broke easily. Others complained about never getting into the event at all.
After standing in line through the rain for two hours, McDonald said he never made it in and decided to leave.
"They sold out; they know what city we're in. We love drinking in Charlotte. It's kind of upsetting that they didn't prepare for this very well," McDonald added.
For those who were in the concourse, many said they weren't able to get beer as the vendors didn't move into the concourse as planned.
One woman told NBC Charlotte that she had friends fly into town for the event, describing it as a "nightmare."
On Monday evening, Untappd, which is based in Wilmington, North Carolina, tweeted out a statement which said in part, "For those who were not admitted during the inclement weather, please reach out to us at festival@untapped.com with your name and the email address used to purchase your ticket(s) for a full refund."
Festival-goers were also offered an Untappd logo pint glass per ticket if they emailed that address.