Jump to content

ROH ticket exchange fee increase


Recommended Posts

Spotted right at the end of the Friends June email: 

 

"As a result of tough economic conditions, reduced funding and rising expenditure, we must make sure that we manage our costs effectively. Therefore we have increased the fee for exchanges and re-sales from £2 to £4, with effect from the 2018/19 Season."

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How interesting .... @100% that's an enormous increase .... especially when you consider the cheapest amphi standing room (for, say, the Symphony in C programme) is £3!   Guess the days of those prices will come to an end as well after the next booking period has finished.  

 

Slightly off topic I wonder if the reduced ACE funding will also eventually mean a reduction (or - dread the thought - elimination) of the 20% hold for general booking - especially when we have been warned to expect 'tougher' economic conditions post Brexit.  

 

Edited by Bruce Wall
Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, Lynette H said:

Spotted right at the end of the Friends June email: 

 

"As a result of tough economic conditions, reduced funding and rising expenditure, we must make sure that we manage our costs effectively. Therefore we have increased the fee for exchanges and re-sales from £2 to £4, with effect from the 2018/19 Season."

 

You beat me to it, Lynette - was just about to post this up myself.  Sharp intake of breath when I read it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Bruce Wall said:

How interesting .... @100% that's an enormous increase .... especially when you consider the cheapest amphi standing room (for, say, the Symphony in C programme) is £3!   

 

If one clicks on a link in the email,  more details emerge:

 

"An exchange fee will not apply for tickets priced at or less than £4. Tickets priced at £4 or below put up for resale will be treated as donations."

 

http://www.roh.org.uk/visit/tickets#exchange

Edited by Bluebird
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm by no means pleased about the increase, but if it means that ROH can continue not to charge booking fees and continue to offer a better exchange and resale service than any other theatre I can think of, I'll live with it.

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 minutes ago, Lynette H said:

Spotted right at the end of the Friends June email: 

 

"As a result of tough economic conditions, reduced funding and rising expenditure, we must make sure that we manage our costs effectively. Therefore we have increased the fee for exchanges and re-sales from £2 to £4, with effect from the 2018/19 Season."

 

 

That sentence continues with "bringing our cost in line with the rest of the sector".  Does anyone know which other venues charge £4 for exchanges?  The most I've ever had to pay is £2.50 at the Barbican.  Indeed the Barbican, the South Bank Centre and Sadler's Wells all give credit whether or not the tickets resell.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said:

I haven't looked at the Barbican or SBC, but there are certain restrictions around SW exchange/resale: https://www.sadlerswells.com/how-to-book/terms-and-conditions/#rules.

 

Could you clarify?  In my experience, provided a Sadler's Wells ticket is returned 24 hours or more before the performance, you are given a gift voucher for the value of the ticket minus the £2 admin fee.

 

Edited to add that the gift voucher is valid for two years from the date of issue.  This is more generous than other venues.  The South Bank Centre and the Barbican only give you 6 months. The Barbican will, however, extend this on payment of an additional admin charge.

Edited by Bluebird
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Bluebird said:

 

The South Bank Centre and the Barbican only give you 6 months. The Barbican will, however, extend this on payment of an additional admin charge.

 

It's a year at the Southbank.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

31 minutes ago, Bluebird said:

 

If one clicks on a link in the email,  more details emerge:

 

"An exchange fee will not apply for tickets priced at or less than £4. Tickets priced at £4 or below put up for resale will be treated as donations."

 

http://www.roh.org.uk/visit/tickets#exchange

 

Ah.  I was going to say "that's okay then", but in fact what that presumably means is "you won't get any money back".  So why bother?  I mean, I know I tend to do it anyway because I don't like depriving other people of the opportunity for a cheap ticket, but to judge by the (seemingly regular?) number of no-shows in amphi standing many other people don't bother.  I mean, £4 may be a reasonable amount if you've paid towards £100 for your ticket, but not on a £6 ticket.  I presume a two-tier system would be too difficult to implement?  I hope the ROH keep an eye on the cheap seats/standing places to make sure they are being fully used: I suspect they won't be. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Bluebird said:

 

Could you clarify?  In my experience, provided the ticket is returned 24 hours or more before the performance, you are given a gift voucher for the value of the ticket minus the £2 admin fee.

 

I think you've just given them :)

 

I'm a keen ballet goer, but there have been times when, as an out-of-towner, I've not been to SW for more than the 2 year valdity of the exchange token: I can only imagine that this also applies to many in the audience. As for the 24 hour rule, I don't know how this works in practice, but if they require physical tickets to be returned (as, pace what is still stated in the Ts and Cs, is I believe no longer the case at ROH), then you can add a day or two to that unless you're in London.

 

Within that 24 hour period, SW will only sell your ticket if a show is completely sold out, whereas ROH will endeavour to do so if there are no more tickets in the same area or price band.

 

I'll also reiterate that ROH doesn't charge online booking fees, which are of course forfeit if exchanging/re-selling at SW. (In an ideal world we'd all be bypassing these by booking in person, but this isn't possible for many.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Lizbie1 said:

 

As for the 24 hour rule, I don't know how this works in practice, but if they require physical tickets to be returned (as, pace what is still stated in the Ts and Cs, is I believe no longer the case at ROH), then you can add a day or two to that unless you're in London.

 

 

 

Fortunately they don't require the physical tickets. You just have to write 'void' on the ticket, take a photo and send it to them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sadler's will happily take a photo of a crossed-through ticket as proof. (They also used to charge £6 per return until a few years ago, IIRC)

 

I think the problem with this is really the fact that you have to book so far in advance that your plans may well change, and most venues which operate such an exchange policy tacitly acknowledge that by making it easy or cheap to do returns and exchanges.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, Bluebird said:

Thanks, Ruth.  I've had to return tickets to both venues recently and forgot that they didn't both have the six month limit.

 

And (at the Southbank) the credit vouchers are now usable online; and, as I discovered when a friend let me use his account for priority booking a few months ago, the credit vouchers can be used by anyone, not just on the account the credit was issued to. I was able to use up my credit on his account.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It goes against the grain to say so (I dislike quite a few of the recent measures taken by ROH on the ticketing front), but thinking about it, when you take into account the labour involved in processing the return and subsequent resale as well as the postage, £4 is probably not an unrealistic figure, especially as separate booking and postage fees are not levied.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Bluebird said:

 

That sentence continues with "bringing our cost in line with the rest of the sector".  Does anyone know which other venues charge £4 for exchanges?  The most I've ever had to pay is £2.50 at the Barbican.  Indeed the Barbican, the South Bank Centre and Sadler's Wells all give credit whether or not the tickets resell.

The RSC. is especially kind to its members by not charging them anything, and  tickets can be returned in exchange for a credit note in the form of a gift voucher. Non members pay £2.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

42 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said:

It goes against the grain to say so (I dislike quite a few of the recent measures taken by ROH on the ticketing front), but thinking about it, when you take into account the labour involved in processing the return and subsequent resale as well as the postage, £4 is probably not an unrealistic figure, especially as separate booking and postage fees are not levied.

 

Surely, Lizbie1, the majority of ticket sales are now e-tickets in this day and age (or am I wrong with the ROH audience - I genuinely don't know) .... and certainly ANY 'close to date' purchases from re-sales are mandated by the ROH as 'e-ticket sales - when booked on line.  Even with hard tickets now I understand that the ROH ask people to email their return notifications.

 

Edited by Bruce Wall
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Bruce Wall said:

 

Surely, Lizbie1, the majority of ticket sales are now e-tickets in this day and age (or am I wrong about the ROH audience) .... and certainly any 'close to date' are mandated by the ROH as 'e-ticket sales - when booked on line.  Even with hard tickets now I understand that they ask people to email their returns.  

 

My perception is definitely that e-tickets are in the minority still: demographics aside, this is not aided by online sales defaulting to hard tickets. I actively prefer e-tickets but occasionally buy hard tickets for ROH by mistake because of this. (This is a change I'd like them to make.)

 

I'd argue for a separate postage fee, except I don't think they'd see it as an either/or, but an extra charge that can be added to the proposed changes.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

When I'm booking tickets for the ROH I always ask for e-tickets because as an out of towner sometimes plans do change and I find them easier to return than hard tickets. Also you can get them twice; printed out and on your phone.  However, in my rush on public booking opening days I sometimes forget to change my booking as the booking default position is hard tickets and several times I've realised very quickly and emailed them and they've changed my booking to e-tickets at no extra cost. I too appreciate the lack of booking fee you can occur at other venues. Sometime the ATG booking fees seems to almost rival the price of the tickets!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Though you do have to make sure you remove the £3 donation that is automatically added to your order... Unless of course you wish to donate it. (I used to keep forgetting to do this in my rush to ensure I'd actually bought my tickets, and it was rather irritating.) It's easy to miss it and I don't think it's really acceptable to do this (though I know other organisations do it too).

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

35 minutes ago, jmhopton said:

When I'm booking tickets for the ROH I always ask for e-tickets because as an out of towner sometimes plans do change and I find them easier to return than hard tickets.

 

How so? When I've returned tickets of either type I just email boxoffice@roh.org.uk giving details of the performance, booking reference and my name and address. No need to scan or return the tickets. Very efficient.

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

here's some perspective from this side of the Atlantic. I would be thrilled to be allowed to return a ticket even if it  meant paying a $7 return fee. We aren't allowed returns at all at the National Ballet of Canada. Your only option is to accept a tax receipt for the value of the ticket (which can be as much as $265). If you are a subscriber you can exchange into a different performance (no charge if you are a full-season, ie 6 performance subscriber, otherwise I think it is about $10 to exchange. The performance has to be in the same season. So I couldn't exchange a ticket for this June's performance into the coming performances in November. Single ticket buyers do not have any exchange options.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, John Mallinson said:

 

How so? When I've returned tickets of either type I just email boxoffice@roh.org.uk giving details of the performance, booking reference and my name and address. No need to scan or return the tickets. Very efficient.

 

 

As long as you have email access at all times, that is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most west end theatre would charge you 10% of the resale price. Having said that, £4 is quite excessive and pulls ROH into a very different space from where it sits right now.  How many would let their standing tickets go to waste rather than getting a few pounds back. This could simply mean more empty space in the cheap seats. We shall wait and see. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

30 minutes ago, ENBlover said:

How many would let their standing tickets go to waste rather than getting a few pounds back.

 

ENBlover, this is already happening.  in the amphi T standing allocation of  (six) places there has been AT LEAST one empty place at EVERY performance I've attended and most happily there have been aplenty of those - performances I mean :).  For example, that 18th June one where Naghdi was performing as a replacement - and where people (including me) were braying for tickets - (capybara said she was 'bereft' at not being able to get one) - there were only TWO - count them TWO - people standing there.  Looking over from my awkward U space I was able to purchase on the off by constantly clicking on the website throughout the day as I was working from home that day I felt quite saddened. Of course ALL tickets were shown as having been sold.  As I say that is but one example of MANY.  I would and do return my tickets when I can't make a performance - and will continue to do so - out of desire to share the work ... and I'm far from idle in my own professional life I can promise you ... but now - as you suggest - there is virtually nil incentive - i.e., even less than before - in such categories for those who might need a nudge.  

 

Edited by Bruce Wall
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks to all for the information here about returns to other venues that I wasn't aware of. I do think Roh is generally very helpful about returns - even for non Royal Ballet performances. However, don't they normall sell out anyway- except perhaps for certain triple bills?

 

i have found it very helpful when I have migraines - which can occur at any time sadly and I missed Anastasia because of one. Hence I tend to leave my tickets at the Box Office for collection before the performance.

Edited by Shade
Added sentence
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not everything sells out.  But I agree with Bruce Wall - what is the incentive for someone to get two pounds back on their six pound ticket?  Or even six pound on the SCS ticket?  I would always resell because I feel it's a responsibility to let somebody else see the performance, but I also wouldn't blame someone for not bothering if they have work/health/travel issues and can't find time to return their ticket.  Four pounds return fee is very steep and not at the same level with other subsidised venues in London.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...