94 replies to this topic

[Haz]

Surely it is the customer's responsibility to check with the theatre whether the cast they wish to see are due to perform on the date they wish to go. Obviously illness/injury cannot be predicted.

you make it sound so easy - when's the last time box office staff have been helpful with regards to holiday?! it took them bloody long enough at evita to announce which regular days elena would be having off, much less any additional time off!

[armadillo]

The box office for The Postman Always Rigns Twice were extremely reluctant to give any information about Val Kilmer's frequent absences. In fact - do the box office staff always know? And how do you get through to the box office anyway if their phones are diverted through Ticketmaster?

[Biddy]

Surely it is the customer's responsibility to check with the theatre whether the cast they wish to see are due to perform on the date they wish to go.

For my London trip last weekend, I phoned, a week or so in advance, See Tickets (official Evita Box Office),
and I mentioned that I knew Elena Roger wasn't scheduled to be performing (due to holidays).
The official telephone Box Office person checked her (seemingly official) list
& said it had NO Evita performers' holidays listed for those dates.

Also, one of the times that week when I rang the official See Booking Number for the London Palladium
(which was also then the number specified for use for people wishing to exchange tickets re Connie's fortnight's sick leave),
and I said I gathered that Lesley Garrett WAS due back onstage on Sat17th (after Fame Academy)
the Box Office young man said he didn't think she was
(though after checking, he did agree with me that she was) -
and indeed she was: I saw her!

Some Agencies phone line is actually referred to as a 'Booking & Information Line'.

Yet one official booking line person (maybe not for those same shows - maybe for Guys And Dolls, or a different show)
recommended that to try to keep up with the latest developments I should keep a look out on the internet,
keep my ear to the ground, &c!

(Guys And Dolls official West End website has had incorrect Cast info on its Intro page & front page for a while, & still has -
2 of the 4 Principals named there are NOT in the current cast!)

If theatres will not themselves answer calls from the public,
they should ensure that any official show website is kept constantly up-to-date;
and (especially as many people neither have social access to the internet, nor wish to have),
theatres should ensure that EVERY Agent at EVERY Agency selling tickets for their shows
does have ACCURATE & UP TO DATE information!

[JWC]

Well, sounds like a good idea on the face of it except theatres would probably then have to hire (at least one) extra staff and guess who'd pay for that in the long run?

Perhaps WOS could offer a "Who's on and who's off" service (??)

[Ian]

If theatres will not themselves answer calls from the public,
they should ensure that any official show website is kept constantly up-to-date;
and (especially as many people neither have social access to the internet, nor wish to have),
theatres should ensure that EVERY Agent at EVERY Agency selling tickets for their shows
does have ACCURATE & UP TO DATE information!

There really is no excuse for the deplorable state of information on most theatres websites. Changing a cast list is something which should be looked at weekly, at least, and could easily be used by all agencies for information to phone callers. Minor updates like this, on a long running show, take minutes to update. No need then to contact all the agencies to update them = cost saving. In the West End this could be hosted by SOLT (updated by each individual theatre), giving all the information required on one easily found site.