John Mallinson Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 In and out in 10 minutes with all the tickets I wanted. Did that really happen?! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Arrowsmith Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Not for me. Still in cattle class beyond capacity of the site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaneL Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I've been in the queue for an hour and a half and am currently at #254 All I want is a ticket for McRae/Marquez Fille! I wonder if the new website they're planning will improve this process, or if it'll just look different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Arrowsmith Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Just into the queue at 1961 (the year of my birth - wonder how old I'll be before I get served). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 (edited) In and out in 10 minutes with all the tickets I wanted. Did that really happen?!  No. You're hallucinating  I've been in the queue for over 2 hours now, and have just dropped below 100. As for the sessions I attempted to start just before 10 am (one on Firefox, one on IE), FF let me into the waiting room about 11.30. IE is still giving me the "too busy" schtick - when it isn't doing the "unable to find page" bit, or something else. Totally random. At one stage, I managed to get on to the home page, and found that "WHAT'S ON" link was actually missing.  Edit: even now I'm finally in, the site is unusually sluggish. It's taking forever to get from page to page, which isn't normal in these circumstances. Edited February 7, 2012 by alison 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangorballetboy Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I've been in the queue for an hour and a half and am currently at #254 All I want is a ticket for McRae/Marquez Fille! I wonder if the new website they're planning will improve this process, or if it'll just look different. Â I've been told the new site will have "infinite capacity"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangorballetboy Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Oops Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mallinson Posted February 7, 2012 Author Share Posted February 7, 2012 BE WARNED - There seems to be a problem at the moment with new posts apparently not being posted and thus prompting people (me included) to click the post button again. This results in multiple posts of the same message. Â If that seems to be happening to you DON'T click on Post again, just refresh the page and you should find your message there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Well, of all the lousy public booking experiences I've had, this one has been the most abysmal by a long way. Not only is the transfer from page to page incredibly slow (except, fortunately, when it came to payment), but I kept ending up with blank pages, and not being able either to refresh or to backspace out of them. The site has added a second ticket from somewhere where I never had the cursor; it managed to lose a ticket I actually had to a Clore rehearsal; the section selection diagram has frozen several times. I carefully made sure I logged in when I realised how many problems there were, in case I needed to email the box office and it would make it easier for them if they could identify my booking. The site appeared to have logged me out again at one point, although thankfully I don't think it did: at one point when I had most of the tickets it suddenly dumped me back in the waiting-room - PANIC! - but somehow I managed to persuade it to let me back in again. I managed to pick up about 1/4 of the tickets I wanted, and then decided, given how badly the site was behaving, to get out while the going was good. Clicked on the Shopping Basket link - blank page! Several times. Finally got to it, attempted to remove added ticket: blank page! Decided not to risk it again, but to pay for unwanted ticket. Had a couple of hiccoughs in the early payment stages, but in the end payment was the only thing that went smoothly. Â Am still over 1000 in the queue on my Firefox session started well over an hour ago. Internet Explorer is still saying it can't even display the webpage. On my PC, I'm getting the "too busy" page again. (Do watch out for the "Welcome - Royal Opera House" tab - it probably means you've actually got the "too busy" page, rather than you've actually made it in somehow). Â Anyone remember the "good old days" when you could get through this thing in a couple of hours? I used to log on at noon sharp (i.e. as soon as I was allowed to use the Internet for personal use) and carry on working until I got out of the waiting-room. I was inevitably finished before 2 pm when I had to be back on work-use only. How on earth do they expect people with jobs (and non-understanding employers) to sit around on a computer for 4 hours just waiting to book? Ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I've been told the new site will have "infinite capacity"! Well, I'll believe it when it's been proven in action. Preferably in a booking period with, say, Domingo, Alagna, Gheorgiu, Terfel, Netrebko, Florez et al for good measure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mallinson Posted February 7, 2012 Author Share Posted February 7, 2012 Alison you have my sympathy for what it's worth. I don't understand how different users can have such different experiences. As I said this was about the smoothest run ever for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Arrowsmith Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 469 in the queue after two hours. Â I'm also expecting John lewis to deliver - not what's the betting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Looks as though that last post didn't stick. Â Never mind, Paul, at least things are speeding up. I'm at 137 in the queue (after 2 1/2 hours) and my "tail" session, which was about 1000 places behind the "head" session, is now only about 750 behind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxDaveM Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 In and out in 10 minutes with all the tickets I wanted. Did that really happen?! Â Â you what!!! I took near 2 hours to get in, then the site so unresponsive I spent a further 40mins navigating between 2 dates on the triple bill, before giving up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 And now I'm back in, the site is in "pot luck" mode, which means that on average I need to try 3 separate price bands, and my chances of finding anything I can actually use are virtually zero Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Macmillan Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I know this won't help - but you've all gone through this many times before, and I wonder why you subject yourselves to it! In the RAF, this would have been seen as an example of what was called "practise bleeding!" I fear I lack your admirable dedication, Alison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 It's a highly inefficient method of getting tickets, Ian, it's true, but if you're after the cheap tickets you tend to find they've all gone if you don't book right at the beginning (assuming you can get some even then). Â For example on the "highly inefficient" front: session 2 - when I got in, the "select your own seat" facility wasn't available. Instead, you have to pick a price and let the site select a seat for you. Trouble is, with amphitheatre tickets it always assigns you the central, full-view tickets before the ones on the side, one go at a time. That means sitting right at the back of the amphi, whereas I'd prefer further down but on the sides for the same price. Upshot is that I pick a price band, it gives me a seat at the back, I reject it, select another band, reject that one and so on. Some 45 minutes wasted on getting what turned out to be one ticket. The only situation in which it works reasonably well is if there are a large number of seats all together in the same band, such as in the Grand Tier or Stalls, but for everywhere else I guess it's pretty counterproductive if people keep wasting time selecting and rejecting, and not making way for those waiting. Oh, and the site clearly decided that I hadn't suffered enough today, because when I had 18 minutes left to make payment it decided to play a game of "There's a hole in your shopping basket dear Liza", and dumped both the standing ticket I'd managed to get *and* the return for Thursday's Dream which I thought I'd hold onto while I checked whether anyone wanted one. Compare with: Â Session 3: I get straight into "Select your own seat", pick my dates, have a quick click on the 3 tiers I'm interested in, grab tickets which are reasonably suitable, or decide not to buy if not, log in, pay and am out of there with another 4 tickets in about 10 minutes. I think it's clear which is the more efficient ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Macmillan Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Alison: 45 minutes for a single seat - no wonder there's a queue. But I see on Twitter that they feel your pain, and that they "are working on developing a painless new system of buying tickets." And yet I seem to recall that was pretty much what was promised with the last system change/upgrade? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I despair when it's time to book ROH tickets. Being disabled and a member of the ROH access scheme, I can't book online as we have to phone the box office. Some venues have dedicated Access phone lines which make it relatively easy to book suitable seats, but with the ROH we have to phone the general box office number. This morning I got the engaged tone permanently from 9.57am to 12.25pm, which meant that I spent almost 2 and a half hours pressing redial every 6 seconds. Â Eventually I was put in a queue for almost 40 minutes. Spoke to a very polite chap who initially thought that the seat he suggested was an aisle seat, and booked it, only to find on checking that it wasn't an aisle seat. Eventually had to split my party into 3 and 2 but at least we are all in the same row in stalls circle. Trouble is whilst booking the site is so rammed that I couldn't find any way of seeing a photo preview of the view (never sat in stalls circle before) so it's a rather expensive gamble. Â Still, I do at least have tickets for first night of La Fille so have one VERY happy daughter....let's just hope we can see! Â Â Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jules_skichick Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 ABYSMAL - How do the |ROH think they can get away with this SHABBY SERVICE for customers in 2012?? World Class? - BOTTOM of world class in my opinion!! How can working people who cannot take odd days off when they like - eg teachers - ever book a ticket to see the RB??? Lunch break time 1 hour - time through waiting room over 2 hours - the sums say it all - despite trying to log on at 8.25 am on arrival in work am still waiting to arrive at the actual site - have been in waititng room at least 5 times and counting down from 1980ish then lose the lot... hate the site - hate the system - could do miles better!!! on ofsted gradings - UNSATISFACTORY - needs to improve 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Has anyone noticed any correlation between whether or not they get the "select your own seat" option and the browser they use? I've made 4 attempts today, 2 on Internet Explorer where I got "select your own seat", and two on Firefox where I got the "you'll take what we give you or else". I think I've noticed this before, and wonder if it's coincidence or something else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 In general the site works ok for me using firefox, but that is always on non-booking days as I never even bother trying to open the site on a booking day. Â New website or not, I can't help feeling that ROH are going about it all wrong by having one booking day for both opera and ballet and for a three month block. Something's got to give. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 And then they could have avoided throwing whatever presumably large amount of money at updating the website and doing something more useful with it. But I doubt they'll change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangorballetboy Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 New website or not, I can't help feeling that ROH are going about it all wrong by having one booking day for both opera and ballet and for a three month block. Something's got to give. Â Indeed. I've never understood why the decision to have separate first booking dates for opera and ballet for FoCG booking was not extended to public booking too. It would make a huge difference, methinks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxDaveM Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Indeed. I've never understood why the decision to have separate first booking dates for opera and ballet for FoCG booking was not extended to public booking too. It would make a huge difference, methinks. Â indeed - I got on later in the evening (2 hour wait in the queue when I got home from work), but the site more responsive when I got there than it had been in the afternoon. There were lots of ballet tickets left for many of the performances (though none of the ones I REALLY wanted, but was expecting that after Friends booking experiences, and that of earlier in the day). So, got OK places, but for a bigger price than I normally like to pay, so had to get less of them. I'm guessing the real 'blockage' was the opera fans getting their tickets. Having different days for ballet and opera would make sense - especially for us ballet fans :-) May be a nuisance for people who like both maybe, but I'd have thought it would have been a bit easier all round, and surely can't be that difficult to organise. Â As an aside - did anyone get any SC standing places for the mixed bill? I'm wondering if they were holding them back for 'first timers' or whatever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mallinson Posted February 8, 2012 Author Share Posted February 8, 2012 As an aside - did anyone get any SC standing places for the mixed bill? I'm wondering if they were holding them back for 'first timers' or whatever. Â Yes I did, but at 10 past 10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 As an aside - did anyone get any SC standing places for the mixed bill? I'm wondering if they were holding them back for 'first timers' or whatever. Â I did at about 20 past 10, though it was the last one there for that performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 I'm guessing the real 'blockage' was the opera fans getting their tickets.  That's always been my impression. I blame the Gheorghiu/Alagna Bohèmes this time around 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Definitely seemed to be a lot of opera buyers yesterday from what I could glean from the Facebook threads. Mind you when I looked this morning there were only a few single seats for La Fille on the opening night so on balance it was obviously worth pressing redial for 2 and a half hours (!) and obviously people were buying ballet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 It's the Acosta effect, yet again . My rule of thumb is, if he's only doing 2 performances, book those first, because they'll go like hotcakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Indeed! Just so happened that we could only make opening night so Carlos is a bonus and = one happy daughter! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Mind you when I looked this morning there were only a few single seats for La Fille on the opening night so on balance it was obviously worth pressing redial for 2 and a half hours (!) and obviously people were buying ballet! I've just had an email in from Ticketmaster - they appear to have a (very) small number of seats for both Acosta performances, although it should be noted that they are *not* at the prices shown in the ROH brochure. And I imagine there will be handling charges, booking charges and heaven knows what on top of that. Still not sure why on earth ROH needs to be selling tickets through anyone indirectly ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Macmillan Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Alison: Like you, I wonder why/how Ticketmaster has those tickets - the more so given that my son-in-law (not a ROH regular) has tried valiantly since Tuesday for 'Alice' tickets, to find that there are now none available. I wonder if the ROH knew it was passing tickets to a parallel organisation? And it couldn't possibly be some 'understanding' arising from Ticketmaster handling the O2 tickets for "R&J" last summer ..... surely not ...... no .... not possible ...... but it hasn't happened before, has it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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