The ROH booking website - what can we do?

[Geoff]

15 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

I must point out that last week, when trying to get a rush ticket for Cav & Pag, I tried going directly into the performance only for the rush tickets not to show up. They only showed up when I went in via the Friday rush page. So what worked today is certainly not an infalliable way of getting rush tickets. I have also tried being already on the seating plan page before 1pm and refreshing at 1pm, which sometimes brings up the rush tickets and sometimes does not. As far as I can tell, there does not seem to be a single best way of getting rush tickets, the successful route seems to vary on different Fridays!

Curiouser and curiouser. An intermittent glitch? Any system analyst would say that spotting the causes of intermittent issues can be very hard.

 

That is no reason for the ROH web elves not to try harder to fix it though. After all, we simply want a website that works, reliably and efficiently, without the random eccentricities we are still having to put up with. 

[Dawnstar]

I really hope it' a bit more predictable, or there's less demand, when it comes to Manon. I wasn't able to book any tickets for that when booking opened so it looks like I'll be entirely reliant on rush for the several casts I'd ideally like to see. If the website keeps on like this then I may be dead from stress & exhaustion sooner than Manon will be! (And sadly without a gorgeous Des Grieux to throw me around to ravishing music just beforehand!)

[Guest oncnp]

If you are looking for last minute Nutcracker be careful...double check that it is taking you to the correct seat map.

 

I clicked on the 20 Dec performance and it took me to the 19th seat map. 

[LinMM]

I’ve just put my two back on about 4 mins ago for the 19th and the 21st matinee both are showing already in the Balcony …I’m going to see how long they last!!! 

[LinMM]

The 21st matinee has gone already so that took 15 mins! 
 

The 19th gone now too! Took about 18 mins from being readvertised to being sold again!! 

Edited December 16, 2023 by LinMM

[alison]

Be very wary if you're booking Nutcracker tickets - the performance you click on may not be the performance which shows up in the seating plan.  No wonder I was struggling to get a ticket for tomorrow's matinee!

[alison]

And again: I tried to get my grubby little mitts on what appeared to be a returned standing ticket for Friday evening earlier: when I clicked on the "Buy" button it took me to the Thursday matinee!

[Linnzi5]

4 hours ago, alison said:

And again: I tried to get my grubby little mitts on what appeared to be a returned standing ticket for Friday evening earlier: when I clicked on the "Buy" button it took me to the Thursday matinee!

That is so annoying! How exactly can that happen? 😡

[alison]

I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that it may happen when the performance becomes "Sold Out" between when you click on the "Buy" button and when you get into the seating plan, but in that case I'd still rather have a message saying that the performance is sold out, possibly giving you the option to pick alternative performances, rather than just dump you straight into a different performance with no indication that it's not the date you wanted.

[LinMM]

Sounds highly annoying 😬

[Blossom]

1 hour ago, alison said:

I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that it may happen when the performance becomes "Sold Out" between when you click on the "Buy" button and when you get into the seating plan, but in that case I'd still rather have a message saying that the performance is sold out, possibly giving you the option to pick alternative performances, rather than just dump you straight into a different performance with no indication that it's not the date you wanted.

Yes it is this. Best thing is to keep a tab open when the odd ticket comes up for the date you want. You are then one step ahead by simply refreshing the page.

[Linnzi5]

3 hours ago, alison said:

I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that it may happen when the performance becomes "Sold Out" between when you click on the "Buy" button and when you get into the seating plan, but in that case I'd still rather have a message saying that the performance is sold out, possibly giving you the option to pick alternative performances, rather than just dump you straight into a different performance with no indication that it's not the date you wanted.

That is incredibly frustrating. I agree a message needs to come up on screen to say sold out. I suppose the software isn't intelligent enough to do that? 

[alison]

I have also seen "sold out" messages sometimes - I wonder whether that's when tickets have literally all been sold, rather than sitting in someone else's basket?

[Geoff]

19 hours ago, Linnzi5 said:

That is incredibly frustrating. I agree a message needs to come up on screen to say sold out. I suppose the software isn't intelligent enough to do that? 

This would seem a simple enough fix (but of course I don‘t have the skills or experience of the wonderful ROH website team).

 

Perhaps anyone who experiences this issue could drop a line to the (I hope still functioning) email address:

 

customerservices@roh.org.uk

[Tiptoesmama]

Just looking at booking tickets for Swan Lake.  If you need to return a ticket can you only get an account credit? We have a guest who might not be able to attend nearer the time.  I don’t understand the resale request section of the website - it says you can only request resale within 24 hours of the performance? 

[bridiem]

11 minutes ago, Tiptoesmama said:

Just looking at booking tickets for Swan Lake.  If you need to return a ticket can you only get an account credit? We have a guest who might not be able to attend nearer the time.  I don’t understand the resale request section of the website - it says you can only request resale within 24 hours of the performance? 

 

Yes - until 24 hours before the performance, you can only get a credit to your account. From 24 hours before the performance, you can return it for resale - so it's a risk unless the performance is very well sold/sold out, because it might not re-sell. 

[Linnzi5]

10 minutes ago, Tiptoesmama said:

Just looking at booking tickets for Swan Lake.  If you need to return a ticket can you only get an account credit? We have a guest who might not be able to attend nearer the time.  I don’t understand the resale request section of the website - it says you can only request resale within 24 hours of the performance? 

I believe that you can return the ticket for an account credit only more than 24 hours before the performance. If it’s less than 24 hours then you can return but will only get a credit if the ticket sells. There is an admin fee of £4 per ticket return. I think that’s right! I have returned a ticket and got a credit on my account but that was with a long time before the performance - I have not, so far, had to return within the 24 hours. There is also a ticket sales/request area on this forum which is an alternative to returning to ROH. 

[Dawnstar]

That made a pleasant change: the first time I've tried Friday rush in a while where I haven't got stuck in a queue looking at that dratted sofa!

[Rob S]

20 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

That made a pleasant change: the first time I've tried Friday rush in a while where I haven't got stuck in a queue looking at that dratted sofa!

I had a 11 minute wait...I forgot it was Friday and was just browsing for my missing Manon performance

[Dawnstar]

11 minutes ago, Rob S said:

I had a 11 minute wait...I forgot it was Friday and was just browsing for my missing Manon performance

 

Oh, I must have just been lucky then. Admittedly I did very much know it was Friday & had 3 different browsers open with various tabs pre-loaded! None of them hit a queue though, it was either an immediate Performance Sold Out message or straight onto the seating plan. Did you get anywhere with Manon? I haven't even started trying to do any Manon booking.

[JohnS]

32 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

That made a pleasant change: the first time I've tried Friday rush in a while where I haven't got stuck in a queue looking at that dratted sofa!

No sofa but it took several attempts to get past the ‘all tickets sold’ message. I could try for the Hansel & Gretel 30/31 performances pretty much immediately but I assume it took a few minutes for Nutcracker Friday Rush tickets to be released. Things must have gone reasonably smoothly as Nutcracker tickets were pretty much all snapped up before 1:20 and we’re back to all performances being sold out. Returns appear but for only a few minutes.

[Silke H]

1 minute ago, JohnS said:

No sofa but it took several attempts to get past the ‘all tickets sold’ message. I could try for the Hansel & Gretel 30/31 performances pretty much immediately but I assume it took a few minutes for Nutcracker Friday Rush tickets to be released. Things must have gone reasonably smoothly as Nutcracker tickets were pretty much all snapped up before 1:20 and we’re back to all performances being sold out. Returns appear but for only a few minutes.

same here.  it took over 5 minutes for the tickets to actually be released.  luckily I did manage to snag my desired performance and one of my desired spots, the other ticket was in a less desired spot.

[capybara]

I do like it when people report success with Friday Rush. It feels like a win for us all !!! 😊

[RobR]

My first ever try with Friday Rush and, after a five minute queue watching the sofa, I got what I wanted. So, no complaints from me. It seemed as straightforward as I’d hoped.

[Rob S]

56 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

Oh, I must have just been lucky then. Admittedly I did very much know it was Friday & had 3 different browsers open with various tabs pre-loaded! None of them hit a queue though, it was either an immediate Performance Sold Out message or straight onto the seating plan. Did you get anywhere with Manon? I haven't even started trying to do any Manon booking.

No, it's the 9th Feb which is pretty much sold out.

[Dawnstar]

1 hour ago, JohnS said:

No sofa but it took several attempts to get past the ‘all tickets sold’ message. I could try for the Hansel & Gretel 30/31 performances pretty much immediately but I assume it took a few minutes for Nutcracker Friday Rush tickets to be released. Things must have gone reasonably smoothly as Nutcracker tickets were pretty much all snapped up before 1:20 and we’re back to all performances being sold out. Returns appear but for only a few minutes.

 

I found the Nutcracker tickets for the performance I was after appeared pretty quickly, within a minute. I was all checked out & paid by 3 minutes past one. I didn't have to do the several minutes (nearly half an hour in one instance) of agonised refreshing that I sometimes have had to do before any tickets have appeared.

 

28 minutes ago, Rob S said:

No, it's the 9th Feb which is pretty much sold out.

 

Looking at the Manon availability, Nunez/Bolle does look to be the most popular pairing. I wonder whether that's due to her or him.

[capybara]

6 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

Looking at the Manon availability, Nunez/Bolle does look to be the most popular pairing. I wonder whether that's due to her or him.

Both enjoy major public name recognition, massive social media followings and established acclaim in the ballet world. Great for pulling in the punters.

 

I have booked for other casts 😉

[Sim]

49 minutes ago, capybara said:

I have booked for other casts 😉

Ditto!

[Sim]

The above post was hidden as it was blank.

[Dawnstar]

58 minutes ago, capybara said:

I have booked for other casts 😉

 

I will be attempting to book for other casts nearer the time. I did see them last time around. (Just looking back at the prices for my 2019 Manon tickets. I want to weep!)

[San Perregrino]

39 minutes ago, Sim said:

The above post was hidden as it was blank.

Yes I made a boo boo re the Manon booking period so deleted my text as can’t delete the whole thing 

Edited December 29, 2023 by PeterS

[Blossom]

Went on the site to book Duets, the only part of the Festival of New Choreography which appeals, which opened this morning to all Friends. I think today is only Young ROH booking but it was impossible to get into the site, after 20 or so minutes when I finally gained access, the performances either crashed returning a technical error or told me the performances were sold out. Lucky I decided to try again a bit later as there were actually plenty of seats to choose from.

 

Meanwhile my daughter's Young ROH booking similarly had a long wait and didn't initially show the Young ROH tickets for Dances Concertantes. Eventually getting access to these, she was told she had reached her ticket limit, then tickets added to basket disappeared on arrival in the basket.... Took about 40 mins to book her tickets.

 

If today's booking pressures were for Young ROH only, I dread to think what tomorrow's General booking will be like.

[San Perregrino]

7 minutes ago, Blossom said:

Went on the site to book Duets, the only part of the Festival of New Choreography which appeals, which opened this morning to all Friends. I think today is only Young ROH booking but it was impossible to get into the site, after 20 or so minutes when I finally gained access, the performances either crashed returning a technical error or told me the performances were sold out. Lucky I decided to try again a bit later as there were actually plenty of seats to choose from.

 

Meanwhile my daughter's Young ROH booking similarly had a long wait and didn't initially show the Young ROH tickets for Dances Concertantes. Eventually getting access to these, she was told she had reached her ticket limit, then tickets added to basket disappeared on arrival in the basket.... Took about 40 mins to book her tickets.

 

If today's booking pressures were for Young ROH only, I dread to think what tomorrow's General booking will be like.

might it be the ‘Swan Lake’ effect? the ballet everyone wants to see?