Theatre tickets

[ClareC]

Just bought some theatre tickets online for Oliver. I went to the theatre's own website and booked direct, albeit the link to buy tickets going through to their ticket agent. It wasn't until I had bought and paid for the tickets, that I was notified (via the confirmation email) that my @?60 per seat tickets were actually only ?45 each, the other ?11.30 per ticket being a "Payment Processing Fee", ?45.20 for the transaction! In addition a delivery cost / transaction fee of ?1.60 was added.

Is this normal? I expected a booking fee but not to the tune of 25% of the ticket cost!

The really irritating part is that despite buying the tickets 6 months in advance of the show, I am expected to collect them from the theatre on the day of the show 1/2 hour before the show and present both my confirmation and credit card - The tickets are actually a gift so I wanted them to give to the recipient, also neither I or my credit card will be there on the day to collect.

Is it possible to buy tickets in advance without being ripped off like this?

[giggirl]

Yes it is normal for people to get ripped off with booking fees. Yours do seem exceptionally high though. Which agency did you buy from?

Wherever possible, it is best to go to the theatre in person and buy your tickets; this usually cuts down on booking fees (or eliminates them all together), and at least your tickets are printed out there and then so that you actually have them in hand.

Otherwise, for theatre, buy from www.seetickets.com, which I think has the lowest booking fees for West End theatre. I hesitate to recommend seetickets because from my experience their customer services are lousy, and for events other than theatre, their booking fees are extortionate. However, because seetickets is owned by Andrew Lloyd Webber, my best guess is that theatre booking fees are kept low so that nobody can point the finger at him and say that he is doing his bit to keep the West End theatres empty.

Booking fees are a total rip off and I'm sorry you've had this experience.

[Tony.London Suburbs]

The tickets are expensive enough to watch Oliver without paying more,as it were(!)

[PeckhamRose]

I did not know ALW owned SeeTickets. I agree their customer service is crap.

I agree also it is best to go to the theatre if at all possible.

Some theatres (Hampstead and I think Royal Court) do not charge for on line card processing although I use a debit card so maybe they do for credit card. So use a debit card. But then maybe that has its own problems if a show is cancelled you have to go to the theatre to get your money back?

[ClareC]

The company that administers online ticket sales for the the theatre was "www.london-theatreland.co.uk, powered by TicketSwitch"

This wasn't really apparant until after the transaction.

I think I will pop into the theatre's direct in future!! I didn't realise you could do that :-$

[Marmora Man]

I misread "Oliver" as Olivier" and thought you were talking about the cost of tickets at the National Theatre.

While not totally relevant the fact that it's possible to queue on the day of an NT performance and buy tickets for just ?10 is absolutely brilliant for two reasons.

One - obviously is the great value for money but the other, and to me more important, is that it means that the performance is never sold out months or weeks in advance if you're prepared to get up early to queue with a flask of coffee and a book in the cool outside the NT.

[KalamityKel]

To follow on wiv MMs comments re: NT cheap tickets - whilst I agree wiv the whole idea of offering cheaper tickets to people on the night if tickets haven't sold, boosting audience sizes and all that, and this probably happens at various other venues, I don't agree that for some patrons(usually, but not always, the older generation) to assume this is the case across the board and become to expect this offer at other places too. It really annoys me.

I speak from a box office perspective and have to deal wiv these grumbly people every day and it really makes me grrrrr for the sake of saving a little bit of money for supporting live music/performing arts.

Yes many things are over priced but thats the way of the world.

Back to booking fees... as already mentioned here and my responses elsewhere... I am always in favour of visiting the theatre box offices. Not just to avoid the booking fee and additional charges (CC charges sometimes and postage) but also for the interaction of dealing with an actual person who knows what they are talking about. Being familiar with the venue Box Office Staff are able to give advice on seating (the top price is not always the best) and suitability for children etc. The availability is usually better too.