SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - The Hay River man who sold tickets for a Randy Bachman concert that never happened says he regrets that four ticket buyers have taken him to small claims court because of his failure to pay them - and hundreds of other would-be concertgoers - back.

Garth Mackie of Hay River, pictured here, has been served a small claims action by four Yellowknife residents led by Steve Lacey, who seek a refund for tickets to a Randy Bachman concert that Mackie organized but ultimately called off due to low ticket sales. - NNSL file photo

On April 6, Garth Mackie was served with a small claims action by Steve Lacey, Pam Naylor, Catherine Pellerin and Sue Glowach of Yellowknife.

Together, they purchased 10 tickets totalling $600 for the July 2009 show, which was called off by Mackie due to low ticket sales.

As Mackie himself admitted to Yellowknifer, he did not respond to the claim within the prescribed 25 days because he did not want to appear combative.

"To be honest with you, if I was to give a response to that, basically I would be fighting people about tickets, which is not what I want to do," said Mackie.

"I'm hoping by this weekend (to have) some type of web page or somewhere where people can get information, where they can send tickets back to me. I'm going to start a refund process."

A summary judgement from the court was expected sometime this week.

Mackie, who has previously brought classic rock bands Nazareth and Trooper to Yellowknife, has been the subject of much criticism from ticket buyers who are still waiting on a refund and have complained about a lack of communication on Mackie's part.

Yellowknifer had its own troubles getting a hold of Mackie until now.

Mackie cited both the schedule of his former job at the Diavik Diamond Mine - he worked four weeks on, two weeks off - and the stress that resulted from one threatening ticket buyer - as the reasons for his slow response.

"Within thirty days after the concert was originally cancelled, I had gone up to work at the mine," he said. "I think I initially received about 150 e-mails and I answered every single one of them."

He also gave out his phone number and e-mail address. In November, one man called and threatened him with physical violence.

"(He said), 'You owe me sixty bucks.' I'm thinking, 'Sixty bucks? I just lost $50,000.' It kind of put me in a funk. It was like, 'What do I do here?'

"The reality of it is that most people - I don't want to sound negative - but most people probably lost $60 to $120. But like I said, I fully agree that they need to get their money back and they will."

The claimants are seeking $600 for the tickets and $80 for the cost of filing the claim. But the issue is not one of money, said Lacey.

"Sixty dollars a ticket - a person could probably absorb that," said Lacey, who purchased two tickets. "But it's the principle of the thing. Don't advertise something that you're going to present and then not present it and expect people to suck it up. That's just not OK."

Mackie said he was sorry to see the matter reach the courts.

"I'm hoping nobody else will put a suit out there, because I'm going to take care of it. When you start getting into courts and stuff, I just think it will probably slow the process down, if anything."

Despite the Bachman experience - and he still has trouble believing how poorly the concert sold - Mackie said he will continue planning concerts.

"I still think it's a great thing to be bringing north and I certainly am in the future going to look at other shows," he said. "The one thing I would certainly change is that if I'm at that 30 day window and ticket sales aren't where I need them to be, then I would cancel it."