27 replies to this topic

[*Beatrice*]

Ian, on 12 April 2012 - 06:47 PM, said:

<br />What annoys me is the quote from Nica Burns:-<br />&quot;The moment we moved from manual box office to computer box office the the costs of running a box office tripled.&quot; and &quot;But in the world of modern technology, people expect to be able to buy their ticket at any time of day and from a place of their choosing&quot;<br /><br />I would love to see the research behind that. I suspect that was a simple question along the lines of &quot;Would you like to be able to buy a ticket online at any time?&quot; rather than the reality of &quot;Would you like to pay up to £12.25 [The stage figure] per ticket to buy a ticket online at any time?&quot;<br /><br />I strongly suspect the answer would have been very different. I, for one, could live with having to contact a box office between the hours of 10:00am and 7:00pm for a fee free purchase. Now it is almost impossible to contact the box office direct. Plus the agencies have no knowledge of how bad a &quot;restricted view&quot; seat actually is, how high the stage is for a particular production, nor if the cut off from the rear stalls affects a particular show or not. All of which, in the past, would have been known by the box office staff at that theatre.<br /><br />... and don't even start me on Jonathan Browns justification on charges ....... !<br />

<br /><br /><br />

So according to this person it's all our fault ticket prices have increased is it? Surely, a 24hour computerised system gives more access to tickets and therefore more sales.

[Lynette]

Just points to chuck in; we get charged for booking over the phone AND for online, don't we? It all started with the big venues like Wembley charging booking fees for big concerts. It was a racket then and it is a racket now. You don't go into Marks and Spencer, take the dress to the til and then get told it is a fiver extra for buying it to cover the cost of the process of buying it. End of my rant on fees.

As for expensive tickets I do not begrudge the theatres the money for putting on quality work which on the whole they do. I do not begrudge the actors for making a decent living precarious as it is. I would like a proper pricing system for tickets. I would love a breakdown to see where the dosh goes.
As for premium tickets - I would buy if I could afford them for what I wanted at the time. But do look at the seating charts. Often a premium seat will be just next to or just in front of a lesser priced seat which is just as good. That can make quite a difference if you are say a foursome on an outing. For just myself I might pay the premium.

But the theatres must realise that they are raising the bar all the time. For the money they are asking we expect something rather special. Dear Judi Dench and Maggie Smith can't last for ever - though long may they last - and who will tempt us into the premiums then? Kevin Spacey? David Tennant's fans will grow up..eventually. And where are the new plays to feed the frenzy? The theatre, that is the commercial theatre in our West End might just become a rarified titbit for the well off. A bit like it used to be, eh?

[armadillo]

I could be maligning the Adelphi but I know I recently booked *at the box office* of a theatre on the Strand and was charged a booking fe!!!!

[Pharaoh's number 2]

Booking fee, or the "restoration levy"? In the form of the latter, I feel we should be able to opt in or out of that.

[Honoured Guest]

armadillo, on 13 April 2012 - 12:32 PM, said:

<br />I could be maligning the Adelphi but I know I recently booked *at the box office* of a theatre on the Strand and was charged a booking fe!!!!

The Sweeney Todd website states that "No booking fee applies to tickets purchased at the Box Office".

http://sweeneytoddwe....com/tickets-2/

Assuming that you didn't stand at the box office and book via your mobile phone or i-phone, then either you're indeed maligning the Adelphi and should retract your charge, or they've very recently improved their policy, or the website information is incorrect.

[sixtynotout]

It's not just the West End either. I was looking to book tickets for the Lion King in Manchester. The prices are colour coded but very similar. I clicked on what I thought was a £38.50 ticket and it came up at £79!! Admitted it did say premium and I know it's an expensive production but blimey! I live in Sheffield so it was actually cheaper for me to book with a local coach company (travel and ticket). I've been with them before so I know they do get really good tickets. This is obviously a family show but how can an average family afford three or four tickets?!

[armadillo]

Pharaoh, on 13 April 2012 - 12:37 PM, said:

Booking fee, or the "restoration levy"? In the form of the latter, I feel we should be able to opt in or out of that.

You're right - it was a restoration levy (checked my ticket) though it wasn't mentioned as such and I wasn't given the option of not-paying. I still resent it though - I work ina  building quite as run-down as any WE theatre (mice and all) and we don't have the option of charging visitors extra.

[Honoured Guest]

V&A?

[xanderl]

More likely that armadillo is in the Natural History Museum I would think

[armadillo]

Just a Victorian local authority building but one of my colleagues had a mouse leap out of his drawer the other day