ROH to introduce e-ticketing

[FionaM]

1 hour ago, LinMM said:

Oh don’t panic me!! 
What if you lost your phone on the way to the theatre or realised you’d left it on the charger at home 😱 ...this has happened to me already but luckily when not going to the theatre. 

As with paper tickets I was hoping that somehow they would have a record of your purchase so if you can’t show your e ticket for some reason they can see you have bought a ticket ....perhaps with a driving licence confirmation it’s you 🤔 

 

The box office will have your records online.   Your purchases are also saved in your account online.  So there is no panic if your phone battery is flat, or you’ve left the phone at home.

 

In fact, I note my history of online purchases goes back about a decade, and is now viewable in my account.  Hoorah!  (in huge print 🤷🏼‍♀️)

Edited May 10, 2021 by FionaE
Edit

[bangorballetboy]

9 minutes ago, FLOSS said:

In my opinion it is merely an exercise in cost cutting which shifts the cost of producing evidence of purchase onto the punter. 

 

Nothing wrong with cutting unnecessary costs, especially if the ROH needs to find £65,000,000 over two years in order not to close.

 

Showing an e-ticket on my telephone is no additional cost to me whatsoever.

 

We have been very lucky over the last however many years in not having to pay a booking/transaction fee at the ROH (unlike most other venues).

[zxDaveM]

ooh - booking/'admin' fees!! Don't get me started

[Rob S]

8 minutes ago, zxDaveM said:

ooh - booking/'admin' fees!! Don't get me started

And those venues that charge the same £2+ fee to post or email you your ticket 😡

[Jan McNulty]

31 minutes ago, Rob S said:

And those venues that charge the same £2+ fee to post or email you your ticket 😡

 

And you may also have paid (well probably have) a per ticket booking fee!!!

 

I'm surprised the ROH hadn't introduced a charge years ago but that has always been one of the classy things about them.

[alison]

1 hour ago, FionaE said:

The box office will have your records online.   Your purchases are also saved in your account online.  So there is no panic if your phone battery is flat, or you’ve left the phone at home.

 

Which is fine if the box office is still open, but presumably wouldn't have worked for Bruce's case of turning up for a later item of a triple bill and finding the e-ticket had expired.  So there may always be a small gap between two stools through which a particular case might slip.

[LinMM]

I’ve just booked the Solstice programme with ENB at the Festival Hall ( and what a palava that was) ....couldn’t initially book two tickets so went for the “ best seat available” option but then it wasn’t giving me the best seat in the price range ...weird. Eventually tried for the two single tickets I wanted again ...which I could see were still sitting there all this time....and finally let me choose these two tickets ... At one point I had about £200 in the basket because I couldn’t see how to remove tickets without paying for them first ...eek....acquired from just looking around at other areas so kept having to let it all time out 🙄 

Anyway to the point in hand ....it will be an emailed e ticket( for two tickets) with a charge of £3-50 as “handling fee” 

[Lizbie1]

That makes me think: I believe that the loophole allowing venues to charge a separate booking fee is generally there beng a physical box office where you can buy tickets in person without this fee.

 

With the RFH closed, is that currently possible? And if not, are they still entitled to charge the fee?

[LinMM]

I can’t make out whether they are open to the public (box office) or not. It says something about Monday to Friday 9-6pm but if you have a query or question to email them which doesn’t sound like you can go in for a chat ....perhaps they mean the phone lines are open 9-6pm. 
As it happens in the middle of it all yesterday I did email them to ask why the system wasn’t giving me best choice in the chosen area ( Balcony) I was after two £45 seats ( with a Friend reduction on top) which I eventually got but their system was a bit sluggish so thought wasn’t working. I could see the two seats still there but when I went to “best in area” they kept coming up with £30 seats. 
I was going to try ringing them this morning but  I did have a very nice email reply ..so very prompt ..but they couldn’t explain what happened just pleased I’d managed  to book in the end. 

[bangorballetboy]

Gremlins!

[Richard LH]

5 hours ago, bridiem said:

I print out my ticket/s, because the last thing I want when I'm going into the ROH/the auditorium is to be unlocking and fiddling with my phone to find the ticket, and having to look over my glasses because I can't read things on my phone with my glasses on, and trying to ensure that the usher can see the ticket, and then that I can see it (repeatedly, no doubt) so I can get to the right seat/s... Apart from anything else I suspect I'd end up tripping up at some stage and falling down the Amphi steps... Whereas a print-out is just there in your hand to be easily seen and consulted whenever needed. But I suppose that's just too easy isn't it? 😒

Exactly...I think it is far easier for oneself and probably the usher to have/show a suitably large printed version, rather than fiddling about with a small screen. 

But am I correct  that the ROH have said they don't want to see a printed version and you have to bring a device to show it on instead?  (I thought I saw this as an instruction somewhere but I can't now find it...and as  you can still get their physical tickets, albeit at an extra cost, such an instruction wouldn't seem to make sense).   

[bridiem]

31 minutes ago, Richard LH said:

But am I correct  that the ROH have said they don't want to see a printed version and you have to bring a device to show it on instead?  (I thought I saw this as an instruction somewhere but I can't now find it...and as  you can still get their physical tickets, albeit at an extra cost, such an instruction wouldn't seem to make sense).   

 

I haven't seen such an instruction and I hope it doesn't exist! Maybe they think that if you have a paper ticket you tend to actually give it to the usher to look at, which obviously they wouldn't want at the moment? But if so, the instruction could be to show not give (which is what I do anyway); and the ushers could simply not take.

[LinMM]

By the way anyone trying to book for the ENB Solstice performances with the Friend 20 percent reduction I could only find this concession in the Balcony yesterday so they are obviously limited. But whether this is overall or just for the day we are going I’m not sure. 

I’m not sure about the mug now though Rob S now bridiem has reminded me of the possibility of tripping down the steps of the Amphi ( fleet of foot I am not) perhaps carrying a mug around might not be the wisest choice especially as it’s nerve wracking at the best of times on the Amphi steps. 
Never go in at the highest point if your seat is in the first three rows 🙄 
 

[JohnS]

I’m sure when booking there was a clear statement that ROH front of house staff would not be able to accept/check printed tickets because of COVID. Hence the 100% e-tickets. I don’t know what arrangements (if any) there may be for people without iPhones etc.

 

I can’t recall when the ROH introduced the £3.00 ‘donation’ per booking added to the basket and have no idea what the split is between those who pay the donation and those who remove the donation. But I imagine introducing a booking fee would see the £3.00 donations taking a hit.

[LinMM]

To be honest I don’t see why they would not be able to just check a printed e ticket...they don’t have to touch it or collect it in.

Not everybody does have a smart phone so some plan must be in place. 
 

[bridiem]

4 minutes ago, JohnS said:

I’m sure when booking there was a clear statement that ROH front of house staff would not be able to accept/check printed tickets because of COVID. 

 

In that case and in spite of my last post, it's sadly entirely possible that I saw and complied with this statement on the 2 occasions last autumn/winter when I went to the ROH, and have completely erased it from my memory. 😯 Either way, I hope that such an embargo won't apply from the autumn/when I next go.

[Richard LH]

When we attended in November I just showed a print-off of our e-ticket as per every pre-covid occasion.

[Rob S]

Is it sent by email because they don't have the staff to deal with the sending out of printed tickets?

[zxDaveM]

48 minutes ago, Rob S said:

Is it sent by email because they don't have the staff to deal with the sending out of printed tickets?

 

I would think the emailing of e-tickets is automated. If not, just takes a couple of clicks, rather than printing out and putting in envelopes and addressing them

[JohnS]

Booking online

We know that booking looks different to many of you right now, even those of you who have been booking online for many years. Laurence in our Box Office has put together this video to guide you through registering and signing in, using our temporary social distancing seat map to find your tickets, and where to download your e-tickets.

 

With the Friends’s booking email (extract abive), there was a useful video which explained about e-tickets and front of house staff not being able to check printed out tickets. There’s also confirmation about tickets being sold in 1s or 2s so if you book more than 2 tickets, you may find you are not together (unless you’ve booked a box).

 

Not in the video but I think in the ‘attending a performance’ section on the website, there’s a reference to signing in using the NHS app. I’ve never needed to download the app so I’ll have to do have a look at that. I’m hoping to get to a couple of rehearsals in June as day trips but they’re contingent on when I get my second jab.

[Richard LH]

14 minutes ago, JohnS said:

Booking online

... a useful video which explained about e-tickets and front of house staff not being able to check printed out tickets. 

Yes this is the instruction that I recalled. But I don't understand why staff would need to "handle" a print out of your e-ticket, to check it, any more than they would need to handle your mobile phone on which exactly the same details are displayed.

[Lizbie1]

9 minutes ago, Richard LH said:

Yes this is the instruction that I recalled. But I don't understand why staff would need to "handle" a print out of your e-ticket, to check it, any more than they would need to handle your mobile phone on which exactly the same details are displayed.

 

I agree this makes no sense - and in any case, I imagine they sometimes have to adjust the screen brightness for people anyway.

[bridiem]

56 minutes ago, JohnS said:

Not in the video but I think in the ‘attending a performance’ section on the website, there’s a reference to signing in using the NHS app. I’ve never needed to download the app so I’ll have to do have a look at that. I’m hoping to get to a couple of rehearsals in June as day trips but they’re contingent on when I get my second jab.

 

When I went in the autumn/winter, I signed in with the app at a screen at the bottom of the staircase in the coffee bar area. But no-one directed me to do so - I asked an usher if I should, assuming that they'd just forgotten to tell people to do so, but they just said 'oh yes, you could do that' or something similar. So it was a bit confusing really. Maybe other people were signing in elsewhere in the building?

Edited May 10, 2021 by bridiem

[Dawnstar]

6 hours ago, Lizbie1 said:

That makes me think: I believe that the loophole allowing venues to charge a separate booking fee is generally there beng a physical box office where you can buy tickets in person without this fee.

 

I wish someone would tell my local theatre that. Sveral years ago they started charging the £2.50 booking fee even when booking in person at the box office!

 

3 hours ago, JohnS said:

I’m sure when booking there was a clear statement that ROH front of house staff would not be able to accept/check printed tickets because of COVID. Hence the 100% e-tickets. I don’t know what arrangements (if any) there may be for people without iPhones etc.

 

That would really deter me from attending. "The first time I ever had to use an eticket for entry to a venue, several years ago, the FOH staff member took my phone out of my hand to look at it. I have Asperger's and OCD and anyone else touching my phone is a major problem for me. I had to bleach it as soon as I got home. Ever since then I have always printed out etickets to make sure no-one is getting the opportunity to take or touch my phone. If that is now forbidden then I would be extremely anxious at having to show my phone. And that's before getting into the issue that if I were to attend with my mother we would probably be sitting separately & she doesn't have a smartphone so how would that work? Would I have to go to her entry door first & show that eticket on my phone before then going to my entry door?

[LinMM]

It sounds as if paying the booking fee (which is cheaper than other places) to have a printed ticket sent to you is worth it in your case Dawnstar. Then you can give your mother her ticket and you can both be happy and independent. 

[Dawnstar]

Yes, I'll probably have to do that in the autumn (assuming I feel I can risk going then & assuming single seats are then available). I hope the booking fee for sending will be per transaction rather than per ticket though, as paying £3 to have several tickets sent seems reasonable but if it was £3 per ticket then it could quickly get very costly.

[LinMM]

It is usually one booking fee for tickets sent out rather than each individual ticket though sometimes it could work out that way if you were not going that much and performances were quite spread out etc. 
 

[alison]

53 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

Yes, I'll probably have to do that in the autumn (assuming I feel I can risk going then & assuming single seats are then available). I hope the booking fee for sending will be per transaction rather than per ticket though, as paying £3 to have several tickets sent seems reasonable but if it was £3 per ticket then it could quickly get very costly.

 

The wording was definitely "per transaction" rather than "per ticket".

[AnneMarriott]

I'm all for any ticketing system that's efficient and cost-cutting.  However,  I wish the print-outs were less cumbersome - all that's necessary surely is the date, time and seat number with some small print about terms and conditions of sale, as with paper tickets.  Instead we get reams of stuff with maps, invitations to book for dinner and trailers for forthcoming programmes - two sides of A4 paper sometimes.  My mobile phone is of the antique variety so I can't have the tickets on that to show at the door. 

 

On the subject of tickets on phones, it is very irritating to have to queue behind people attempting to show tickets on their phones only to find that they have run out of battery, can't locate the ticket without a lot of scrolling and cussing or (new to me) finding that their ticket has expired because they've arrived late.  So the efficiency and cost-cutting only applies to the issuing of tickets, not to the actual deployment.

[capybara]

But e-tickets provide a further opportunity to bring in advertising revenue..........😉

[Richard LH]

Having taken up the "Not handling paper" issue with the Box Office, I received this very prompt and helpful  reply: 

 

Thank you for your email. 

I can confirm that the Ushers will be handling paper. I apologise if the video was misleading. 

Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions. 

Kind regards,

 

Tom

Box Office Assistant

 

Visitor Experience - Box Office

Royal Opera House

Covent Garden, London WC2E 9DD

[JohnS]

40 minutes ago, Richard LH said:

I apologise if the video was misleading. 

 

Many thanks Richard. I rather liked Tom’s prompt response although I don’t think ‘Misleading’ is quite the word I’d have chosen.

[Guest oncnp]

Whatever form your ticket takes,  the new terms and conditions do not allow return-for-resale. Gift certificate is the only option if you return a ticket to box office. They can however  "... offer refunds if it is within 24 hours of the original purchase."

Edited May 11, 2021 by oncnp