591 posts
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Post by lou105 on Aug 15, 2016 12:45:34 GMT
I recently had to return a ticket for a performance of a sold out show and was rather surprised to be told the next day that it didn't sell. I understand, of course, that any returns facility is a privilege not a right, but I thought it would be sold easily, otherwise I might have considered other options (including offering it here!). I'd be interested to hear of others' experiences. One thing that puzzled me was that the theatre didn't put it back on the website, even with over 24 hours notice, so only a personal caller could buy it. I don't think this venue has many tickets out with third party agents. Are there always house seats kept for the very last minute which they would want to shift first? Or was I just unlucky?
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1,936 posts
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Post by wickedgrin on Aug 15, 2016 13:06:01 GMT
No you weren't unlucky in my experience. Unless the show is genuinely sold out you have no chance of selling your return ticket through the box office as they ALWAYS sell their own unsold tickets first.
If the show is genuinely sold out - it can happen - there are usually house seats held back for creatives or VIP's until the last minute and then these are sold if they are not required. These are always prime seats.
I have NEVER managed to sell a return for a show, so it usually goes to waste. Having said that returns often crop up on the National website of sold out shows on the day which I presume are returns. But if it happens in future I will give the ticket away to someone on here - at least that way the seat gets used and (hopefully) appreciated.
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591 posts
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Post by lou105 on Aug 15, 2016 13:38:59 GMT
The National has a pretty generous returns policy, though, and effectively bears the risk itself of not reselling seats. I realise that policies are bound to vary between venues, but I suppose the basic problem is that it's impossible for the average person to know how many tickets the theatre actually has left for a "sold out" show..
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2016 16:18:47 GMT
Are there always house seats kept for the very last minute which they would want to shift first? Certainly some theatres only offer returns for resale after they have sold their free house seats, which they may only release for sale at the last moment before the show. |
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2,702 posts
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Post by viserys on Aug 15, 2016 16:24:24 GMT
Seems I was lucky then. I once returned a full price stalls ticket because it was a mediocre seat in Row N and I had been able to get Row A on a dayseat in the morning. I figured worst come to worst I'd spend an additional £10 for a much better seat.
During the interval I walked around the stalls and saw that my original seat was occupied and indeed I had received an email during the day that they had sold my ticket and refunded the money.
Not sure if the box office person had been extra nice or if I had just been super lucky that it was sold out to the rafters.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2016 18:35:38 GMT
I think this is where it helps to live out in the sticks with regional theatres! Over the last few months I've had to return three separate tickets to things at the Crucible or Lyceum in Sheffield due to last minute illness, and every time they've just taken them back and let me swap to something else without any problem at all. I don't even think they were sold out. They warned me that the tickets 'may' not resell, but every time, they have done.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2016 18:59:34 GMT
I once returned a front-row ticket for Chicago because I'd decided I wanted to see something else instead. Not expecting to get my money back, I asked the duty manager if I could donate it and have it passed on to someone for free. He thought it was a very generous gesture. The box office disagreed, and decided they'd rather not give away a free ticket when they could sell one of their own. It made sense from a financial point of view, but I wasn't half pissed off that my attempt to be generous was subverted by the intransigence of the box office staff.
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1,351 posts
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Post by CG on the loose on Aug 15, 2016 19:11:00 GMT
I successfully returned at ticket for Fracked! at Chichester recently, gave them a few days notice so it went back on the website on what was a sold-out run, and it did sell (must check bank account for refund!).
Generally, however, I try to pass them on to friends if I can't make a show.
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3,575 posts
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Post by showgirl on Aug 16, 2016 3:42:35 GMT
Sometimes it pays not to have collected tix in advance - I certainly don't do this with Chichester, even though I'm about to make my 3rd trip of the season and could have collected all 5 or 6 booked tix on the first occasion. I have needed to swap dates for one due to Southern Rail issues and whilst it might have been possible even if I'd had the ticket (some theatres will just cancel it online), I'm sure it was easier because I hadn't collected it.
In my experience Hampstead is the worst as they insist that you attend on the day to offer your ticket - well, if you could still get there, you wouldn't need to try to change/re-sell it, would you?!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2016 5:59:36 GMT
I've had mixed experiences.
The Almeida and Royal Court will put returned tickets back on sale online if the show is sold out and you give them enough notice - I've succesfully resold tickets that way in some (not all) cases.
Royal Opera House will also put returned tickets back on sale online, even if the performance isn't sold out.
All the above will swap the ticket for another date as well - obviously doesn't help if the entire run is sold out.
Barbican and (as mentioned above) National Theatre will exchange tickets for credit.
Anyone had experience doing this with the Menier? I have a ticket for Travesties which I can't use so am about to contact them to try and return it.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2016 7:59:43 GMT
I've had fairly good experiences, as mentioned the NT and Royal Court are accomadating, and I've had credit from both of those. The Hampstead have taken retruns and sold them as well, I was unlucky the last ticket I returned the show wasn't selling out so naturally I missed out.
I also had a good experience ringing up Delfont Mac. when although it wasn't 'policy' to resell, for sold out shows I've been put through to the respective box office and allowed to put it up for resale (and as it was sold out, get a refund)
The WMC here in Cardiff have particularly draconian returns policies, and as a result I've never tried but I know of a few not happy campers about it!
Menier has happily transferred tickets for me before, but I've never had to return but they seem fairly accomadating.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2016 8:16:53 GMT
The WMC here in Cardiff have particularly draconian returns policies, and as a result I've never tried but I know of a few not happy campers about it! But they do exchanges in the usual satisfactory way - I've exchanged (without fuss for the same show) but was required to collect the ticket in person immediately pre-show, with no option to have tickets posted or to collect in advance, which I wonder might somehow prevent resale or passing the ticket on for a friend to use, which would mean that the WMC would lose the potential sale of a ticket to that friend?. |
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Post by partytentdown on Aug 16, 2016 9:47:13 GMT
Having worked in box offices for many years in my younger days, reselling is a minefield... many systems don't allow you to put a ticket back on sale without refunding the customer, and then if the ticket doesn't re-sell, you have essentially lost money on a ticket that could easily have been sold a few days earlier. Often people are surprised their tickets don't sell at sold out shows but forget that walk-up customers are less willing to pay lots of money, so if you're handing back a £70 ticket and someone only wants to pay £20, the box office can't really do anything about it.
There's also the complication that people buying returns do so in cash, so the box office have to work out how to take that cash and refund it to you via your original payment method. Also, many people don't buy their ticket directly from the theatre, so the theatre physically can't refund you unless the whole process is dealt with in cash. I once worked at a London fringe theatre with a safe full of envelopes containing loose change from return tickets which had been sold for cash which had never been claimed.
Consider trying to deal with all this in the final 30mins of an incoming show with the usual cohort of complainers, latecomers, producers breathing down your neck about hitting sales targets, etc and it becomes an added stress that often is bottom of the list of things to worry about.
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171 posts
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Post by musicalfloozie on Aug 16, 2016 11:18:14 GMT
I honestly never knew this was an option until I had to return tkts to the bodyguard in Sheffield last year as I literally couldn't even give them away. My friend dropped them in that morning and I got fully refunded so presume they sold them.
I imagine it would be a logistical nightmare sometimes as like posted about not many people would want to pay full price for tkts just before a show so the box office unlikely to take a hit.
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1,102 posts
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Post by zak97 on Aug 16, 2016 11:34:34 GMT
I've have returned tickets twice. First time for Cats when Nicole was starring. It was a £20 ticket and seetickets refunded me instantly, I suppose they presumed the ticket would sell again. Second time was a standing City of Angels ticket after doing the front row. I'm not sure if I was refunded straight away or it sold first, I returned via phoning, and before the call ended I was told the ticket sold again.
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