1,972 posts
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Post by sf on Oct 22, 2018 16:13:07 GMT
I've never demanded a refund because a play was bad. I did recently return a ticket (for box office credit) for a play that received across-the-board terrible reviews, and that looked less and less appealing to me (and certainly not worth travelling 200 miles each way) the more I read about it, and that's not something I do often. I did once demand - and eventually get - a refund from the Palace in Manchester because I'd complained at the interval about terrible audience behaviour in the row behind me (people talking loudly and singing along with the show) and the behaviour persisted into the second half. I pointed out the clause in their terms and conditions stating that management reserved the right to eject disruptive patrons (or however they phrase it), that I and others had pointed disruptive behaviour out to them and they had allowed it to continue even though the perpetrators had been identified, and that this was not an experience I was prepared to pay for. I would far rather not have had the refund and not have had the unpleasant experience that led me to ask for it, but the Palace do deserve some credit for eventually - about three months later - sending me a cheque for the full cost of the ticket.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 22, 2018 16:33:37 GMT
I think it very much depend on what you mean by 'terrible'. If you mean you thought it was badly written, then personally I'd say bad luck, that's the punt you take. Besides, I always find that seeing a bad play makes seeing the next good play even better. However if there are technical problems, or actors continually fluff lines etc then yet those are very valid reasons. Yes, that’s the best way of looking at it, ‘Caveat Emptor’. There shouldn’t be any recompense for variations in taste but, if the product is ‘faulty’ then it can fail to reach the expectation of any buyer carrying out due diligence. In theatre that might mean failure of the physical production, such as set or lighting, the performers being unable to fulfil their roles, not dealing with disruptive audience members or, in certain cases, the absence of warnings to the purchaser as regards the nature of the performance (age appropriateness etc.) |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 22, 2018 17:42:17 GMT
We got money back from Cineworld when we saw the NT Live screening of Streetcar Named Desire, but that was because the screening went wrong. Something happened to the projection ratio and everyone was very wide and fat, it was hilarious. They fixed it, but it took about an hour, so we got free tickets when they showed it again a week later, and I was more than happy to see it twice!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 22, 2018 18:10:38 GMT
This thread is most enlightening. I have always assumed that people go the Theatre expecting it to be bad and then being pleasantly surprised when it isn’t.
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1,863 posts
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Post by NeilVHughes on Oct 22, 2018 18:21:40 GMT
My default is to expect an indifferent production, therefore being disappointed or pleasantly surprised are both unexpected outcomes and equally valid as you have to experience the bad to appreciate the good.
Fortunate as a regular Theatre goer, cannot expect everything it be good especially new writing at Fringe Theatres as some by definition will be gambles.
If I was limited in what I can see then I would do a lot more homework to minimise disappointment and likely to kick up more of a fuss if the production was poor.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 22, 2018 18:49:23 GMT
It's a concert rather than a play, but I expect most people will anticipate failing to sit through the entirety of the performance of As Slow As Possible at Halberstadt. (Those who would like to be compensated for the failure should apply after completion of the performance.)
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2,702 posts
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Post by viserys on Oct 22, 2018 19:17:26 GMT
We got money back from Cineworld when we saw the NT Live screening of Streetcar Named Desire, but that was because the screening went wrong. Something happened to the projection ratio and everyone was very wide and fat, it was hilarious. They fixed it, but it took about an hour, so we got free tickets when they showed it again a week later, and I was more than happy to see it twice! A multiplex in the suburbs here showed the "Company" concert with Neil Patrick Harris back then, so I drove out there. They showed the second act first. While I didn't know the song order very well, I knew that "Being Alive" was the last number so I was pretty confused when NHP started in on that. During the interval a dude came into the cinema to explain the cock up and distributed vouchers. Which was completely pointless since this was a one-off screening and I refuse to see regular (dubbed) movies in German multiplexes. I held on to the voucher for a while, then tossed it. Should have asked for my money back, I guess. Oh, and of course they did show Act One after the interval 
You could never ask for money back for bad plays over here. Our directors consider it a personal triumph over the dumb unwashed masses when people flee in the interval and complain to the local newspapers how awful something is.
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213 posts
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Post by peelee on Oct 22, 2018 19:40:47 GMT
I was watching a US film, American Animals, at a cinema a few weeks ago, and found its ponderousness and lack of necessary editing to be the explanation. So very unusually for me, I left mid-film about an hour in. Funny thing was, I left at what was probably the most exciting long scene, the robbery of something from a library, but I really didn't think by then that I'd be missing anything. Whether they got away with it, or all got pinched by the cops, mattered little to me by then. I wouldn't ask for my money back in that sort of situation; I'd simply credited the film with more to it than it had to offer.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 22, 2018 20:23:23 GMT
I was watching a US film, American Animals, at a cinema a few weeks ago, and found its ponderousness and lack of necessary editing to be the explanation. So very unusually for me, I left mid-film about an hour in. Funny thing was, I left at what was probably the most exciting long scene, the robbery of something from a library, but I really didn't think by then that I'd be missing anything. Whether they got away with it, or all got pinched by the cops, mattered little to me by then. I wouldn't ask for my money back in that sort of situation; I'd simply credited the film with more to it than it had to offer. I thought that film was really very good, Peeler. Although it seems to have made the “villains” into minor celebrities, which I’m not too keen on. |
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Post by steve10086 on Oct 22, 2018 21:28:34 GMT
”The Fields Of Ambrosia" offered refunds to anyone who left at the interval in the weeks before it closed. Yep, I joined the queue of those getting their money back. |
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4,029 posts
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Post by Dawnstar on Oct 22, 2018 21:35:20 GMT
I've never tried to get a refund for anything I've turned up to, including a couple of operas where I found the productions so repellant that I left in the interval, but I have at least twice returned tickets for operas once I've read the reviews & realised I could not be able to make it through the productions. One involved a deer being eviscerated & the other dead bodies hanging in the freezer of a Chinese restaurant. So I would never complain about something being boring or bad but I will if it is very gruesome.
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529 posts
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Post by ruby on Oct 22, 2018 22:00:14 GMT
I got a refund for Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace's tour show in Bristol last year. They decided an hour before that Vincent was unable to perform so the ensemble danced for about half an hour with Flavia doing the odd twirl, then a 30 minute interval, then another 30 minutes of dance. All credit to the ensemble, they were great, but the show was not as advertised so full refunds were given.
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999 posts
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Post by Backdrifter on Oct 22, 2018 22:13:38 GMT
This thread is most enlightening. I have always assumed that people go the Theatre expecting it to be bad and then being pleasantly surprised when it isn’t. That's an odd assumption, that people are handing over money for productions they expect will be bad. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2018 6:38:05 GMT
My default is to expect an indifferent production, therefore being disappointed or pleasantly surprised are both unexpected outcomes and equally valid as you have to experience the bad to appreciate the good. Fortunate as a regular Theatre goer, cannot expect everything it be good especially new writing at Fringe Theatres as some by definition will be gambles. If I was limited in what I can see then I would do a lot more homework to minimise disappointment and likely to kick up more of a fuss if the production was poor. I made a rather flippant remark in an earlier post but I think my default is that I attend all the shows I see with an open mind. I often go to shows that have had bad reviews - both in the press and on here - because there is something in the play that interests me. Even plays I haven’t liked so much have given me an interesting experience. It would never cross my mind to ask for my money back - not least because most theatres don’t have much. I would hate for this to become a trend. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2018 7:09:21 GMT
If it's a choice between going in with high expectations or going in with low expectations, then I would rather the latter. The worst case scenario is you're proven right, but more often than not you're pleasantly surprised that it's not as bad as you were dreading, even if it only winds up being faintly mediocre rather than plain old bad. Going in with high expectations is a killer though; once the hype machine gets going, then even the most sublime production can never *quite* live up to the thunderous echoes of praise coming from all corners.
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999 posts
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Post by Backdrifter on Oct 23, 2018 11:06:21 GMT
I made a rather flippant remark in an earlier post but I think my default is that I attend all the shows I see with an open mind. I often go to shows that have had bad reviews - both in the press and on here - because there is something in the play that interests me. Even plays I haven’t liked so much have given me an interesting experience. It would never cross my mind to ask for my money back - not least because most theatres don’t have much. I would hate for this to become a trend. This is my approach too, I adopt as much of a 'blank page' approach as possible. If it's a writer/director/company/performer you especially like, it'll be difficult to be completely free of any expectation at all but I'm generally able to be pretty open-minded. I tend not to read reviews and even when there are terrible notices that I pick up on through osmosis, I don't really care and anyway I've never found any production that's been critically panned to be anywhere near as bad as that. If anything, it's when there's been mainly glowing reviews that I find the production can't live up to that. |
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Post by david on Oct 23, 2018 16:26:39 GMT
A multiplex in the suburbs here showed the "Company" concert with Neil Patrick Harris back then, so I drove out there. They showed the second act first. While I didn't know the song order very well, I knew that "Being Alive" was the last number so I was pretty confused when NHP started in on that. During the interval a dude came into the cinema to explain the cock up and distributed vouchers. Which was completely pointless since this was a one-off screening and I refuse to see regular (dubbed) movies in German multiplexes. I held on to the voucher for a while, then tossed it. Should have asked for my money back, I guess. Oh, and of course they did show Act One after the interval
I got a refund on Angels in America at NT live, when the Odeon started showing Planet of the Apes in the middle of it! the satellite feed went down, and then Apes came on....but with the Angels dialogue still going. So we had the 'hot dog scene' with some Apes on screen. Hilarious! (though not if you don't know the play and were trying to follow, granted) Had a good chuckle at that. The only thing to beat it is if the immortal line “I’m a f***** prophet” had come up and had been mouthed by one of the apes. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2018 17:06:00 GMT
A multiplex in the suburbs here showed the "Company" concert with Neil Patrick Harris back then, so I drove out there. They showed the second act first. While I didn't know the song order very well, I knew that "Being Alive" was the last number so I was pretty confused when NHP started in on that. During the interval a dude came into the cinema to explain the cock up and distributed vouchers. Which was completely pointless since this was a one-off screening and I refuse to see regular (dubbed) movies in German multiplexes. I held on to the voucher for a while, then tossed it. Should have asked for my money back, I guess. Oh, and of course they did show Act One after the interval
I got a refund on Angels in America at NT live, when the Odeon started showing Planet of the Apes in the middle of it! the satellite feed went down, and then Apes came on....but with the Angels dialogue still going. So we had the 'hot dog scene' with some Apes on screen. Hilarious! (though not if you don't know the play and were trying to follow, granted) Now, I would have paid extra to have had that experience. Lol! |
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3,321 posts
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Post by david on Oct 23, 2018 17:13:05 GMT
At least it was Planet of the Apes, imagine the horror if it had been a more adult film?! Oh the joys of live theatre!
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Post by lem on Oct 23, 2018 19:43:25 GMT
I’ve had a refund once (Chess at the RAH for appalling sound problems) and a free ticket after complaining about theatre staff member, taking promo photos and trying (and failing) to keep young toddler child from running up and down the aisle for the whole show.
However, I’ve seen many more than 2 terrible plays!! 😀
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5,707 posts
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Post by lynette on Oct 23, 2018 20:31:32 GMT
I’ve never asked for a refund for a terrible play, knowing that my taste is not the same as everyone else's but I’ve often wanted to.
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879 posts
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Post by daisy24601 on Oct 23, 2018 22:01:26 GMT
A multiplex in the suburbs here showed the "Company" concert with Neil Patrick Harris back then, so I drove out there. They showed the second act first. While I didn't know the song order very well, I knew that "Being Alive" was the last number so I was pretty confused when NHP started in on that. During the interval a dude came into the cinema to explain the cock up and distributed vouchers. Which was completely pointless since this was a one-off screening and I refuse to see regular (dubbed) movies in German multiplexes. I held on to the voucher for a while, then tossed it. Should have asked for my money back, I guess. Oh, and of course they did show Act One after the interval
I got a refund on Angels in America at NT live, when the Odeon started showing Planet of the Apes in the middle of it! the satellite feed went down, and then Apes came on....but with the Angels dialogue still going. So we had the 'hot dog scene' with some Apes on screen. Hilarious! (though not if you don't know the play and were trying to follow, granted) I'm baffled as to how that would happen! Apes on another channel perhaps? |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2018 11:57:21 GMT
I WISH a big Ape would come on an liven it up Sorry, I only do matinees. Not even for double-banana-rates? |
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70 posts
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Post by alexandraastrid79 on Oct 6, 2019 13:23:02 GMT
I was tempted to ask for a refund on grease? It was that bad.! I have had hair cancel on me as the actors rang in sick or so they say, automatically refunded.
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Post by theatremad on Oct 6, 2019 20:22:40 GMT
I generally toss up when reviews are in but takes a lot to return a ticket. Famous one for me was not so much a bad production or play more a lucky chance. We were due to go to Alex Jennings in Present Laughter at the NT and decided to change our tickets to a short lived production the same night called War Horse, never regretted that one.
One refund only and that was for Wolf of Wall Street. Too many reasons but I got it. Hated asking but was so angry I knew was only way to get some sort of closure
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