Ripped off in Limerick

v300

Hello lads/ladies,I attended the Limerick Panto Society panto, "Babes in the Wood" at University Concert Hall , Limerick www.uch.ie
at its first showing on Wednesday the 27th of December 2006, where I had to pay full price (14 euros) for a 5 month boy to attend the panto with his family !
I had already paid full price for tickets for 2 adults and 4 children, a not inconsiderable sum, and was trying to gain admission to the show via entrance door number 2, when I was refused admission by the managing director of the UCH, where he told my dis-believing ears that I would have to get and pay for a full price ticket for my sleepy 5 month old boy, (Price 14 euros) after already having paid out for 6 full price tickets, (4 children and 2 adults).
He dismissed my complaint about this anti-family pricing policy by saying that it was his only way of counting the members of the audience in case of an emergency evacuation,
However, to his shame, he would not issue me with a no cost ticket to cover this particular eventuality/excuse.
I was then told by box office staff on-site at the hall at the mid point interval, that this instruction to charge for babes in arms was taken by the Limerick Panto Society Director, Tony Cusack (Phone ) in what seems to me to be a blatant pass-the-buck move.
I also took a vox-pop of other families in the foyer and the concert hall during the interval at the panto and, without exception, were unsurprisingly aggrieved at having to pay full price for a babe in arms.
I came across about 10 couples in similar circumstances, on the day.
The managing director of UCH is a Michael J Murphy at
e-mail address is mmurphy@uch.ie
People need to be informed of this rip-off policy in Limerick.
This is no simple misunderstanding, this is their stated policy!
Thanks for your time, I hope you soften these peoples cough just a little, they seem to act as though they believed themselves to be untouchable and with much more than a simple touch of arrogance.
I have e-mailed the people employed at the concert hall and am now waiting with baited breath for their replys and justifications for this particular policy.

What else can I do to get my point of view across to this bunch in Limerick UCH ?
Thanks for reading down this far, regards, etc.

v300

Well lads, any takers, still looking for a bit of advice on this....
Thanks etc.

eth0_

Why did you email them?
It's a sad fact that they are unlikely to take an email complaint seriously, or even read their email at all!

Send a letter registered post to the manager of the theatre. Write to the Limerick newspapers.

Does it say in their T&C that you have to pay for ALL children?

kelle

Would you ring Gerry Ryan? Though after the tragic death of his mother RIP, I don't know when he'll be back broadcasting.

MarkR

Are those public or private telephone numbers you're posting?

eth0_

Indeed, didn't notice those phone numbers at first. Reported!

phog

Whats the gripe here - were all tickets €14 or was there a reduction for children? Did you not ask when booking the 6 tickets for your group would a 5 month old child be admitted without a ticket or were you trying it on?

I haven't been to the panto in long time but their certainly was concessions for families/children a few years back. I saw the posters but didn't take much notice of ticket prices.
Why post contact details (esp private numbers) - do you expect readers to do the running for you?

sceptre

I see this is on the front page of the current Limerick Leader.

I'm not sure what the point is in bringing a 5 month old to the panto to be honest.

v300

sceptre wrote:

I'm not sure what the point is in bringing a 5 month old to the panto to be honest.

It's nice to have a family day out, and most forms of family entertainment make some concessions for a family group, especially when the only floor space that a little one takes up is its parents lap.

I'm getting the feeling that a substantial minority of Irish people (and entertainment venues), are of the opinion that children should be seen, and not heard. Would you agree?

For those of you who posted positive contributions, I thank you for taking the time to reply.

kelle

sceptre wrote:

I'm not sure what the point is in bringing a 5 month old to the panto to be honest.

Because a 5-month-old cannot be left home alone, and it's not easy to get a babysitter at Christmas! If the baby was going to sleep throughout the performance, what's the problem?

kelle

v300 wrote:

I'm getting the feeling that a substantial minority of Irish people (and entertainment venues), are of the opinion that children should be seen, and not heard. Would you agree?

Agreed! You might actually find more understanding replies from a website where everybody's a parent themselves, like http://www.eumom.com/ie/forum/default.asp?CAT_ID=1

phog

v300 wrote:

It's nice to have a family day out, and most forms of family entertainment make some concessions for a family group, especially when the only floor space that a little one takes up is its parents lap.

I'm getting the feeling that a substantial minority of Irish people (and entertainment venues), are of the opinion that children should be seen, and not heard. Would you agree?

For those of you who posted positive contributions, I thank you for taking the time to reply.

So you're only interested in comments that are in agreement with yourself. Frankly when you post here you have to accept the views of all posters.

I'm a family man with 2 children, my own view for what it's worth is that when booking the tickets that you didn't check out the situation with regards to a 5mth baby attending, why would you book tickets for some of the family and not the baby without checking if the baby was free?

And yes, there are times when children should be seen and not heard. Imagine you paying €14 for every member of your family to attend a panto and some family next to you with a 5mth old crying throughout the show - what would your reaction be? I'd be annoyed that one of the parents didn't leave with the child and let other members of the audience enjoy the show.

kelle

sceptre wrote:

I see this is on the front page of the current Limerick Leader.

Well done, v300 - they deserve to be named and shamed. To have charged for a child that wasn't even occupying a seat is a disgrace, it doesn't even matter that you'd already paid for 4 children and 2 adults.

Enright

re the rip off, i attended that panto last night, wih minor exceptions, i thought the performance poor, timing horrendous and the band questionable. The set and light were excellent, but overall i was dissaapointed in the show.

does this qualify as a rip off?

Pshan

v300 - did you know when purchasing the tickets that you would be bringing the baby? If so did you not discuss the policy of admitting infants? If not, why not?

TBH, I think you're milking this.

v300

Enright wrote:

Re; the rip off, i attended that panto last night, wih minor exceptions, i thought the performance poor, timing horrendous and the band questionable. The set and light were excellent, but overall i was dissaapointed in the show.

I am sorry to have to say that I fully agree with all your comments, on this one.

v300

Pshan wrote:

v300 - Did you know when purchasing the tickets that you would be bringing the baby? If so did you not discuss the policy of admitting infants? If not, why not?

I have never had this problem before, in any country including Ireland, and I have brought my kids to many an enjoyable family event.
I did not think that any family entertainment event would charge for a babe in arms.
It is a shocking first for me and I felt that a lot of people in Limerick,
potential customers of this panto at UCH limerick
would like to be made aware of this Anti-Family / Rip-off pricing plan.

Nevyn

I have never heard of an infant being charged for, usually if the child is over two they will need a ticket.

phog wrote:

And yes, there are times when children should be seen and not heard. Imagine you paying €14 for every member of your family to attend a panto and some family next to you with a 5mth old crying throughout the show - what would your reaction be? I'd be annoyed that one of the parents didn't leave with the child and let other members of the audience enjoy the show.

It was a PHANTO !!!!
It is desgined for children and families ffs and who are you to assume that v300 baby was disruptive or that any infant would be.

v300

Thaedydal wrote:

I have never heard of an infant being charged for, usually if the child is over two they will need a ticket.


It was a PANTO !!!!
It is desgined for children and families ffs and who are you to assume that v300 baby was disruptive or that any infant would be.

I'm glad I was not the only one to spot that!

Gurgle

v300 wrote:

I did not think that any family entertainment event would charge for a babe in arms.

I agree, but you should have checked before you booked.

This is the kind of case where people should vote with their feet, not pay up and complain afterwards.

kelle

Gurgle wrote:

This is the kind of case where people should vote with their feet, not pay up and complain afterwards.

Easy to do if you're young, free and single- but v300's other children had been looking forward to this event and it would've been cruel to force them to leave!

v300

Gurgle wrote:

This is the kind of case where people should vote with their feet, not pay up and complain afterwards.

Micheal J Murphy, the Director of UCH Limerick, knows full well that families will not leave over something like that and has decided to fully exploit that for maxium advantage.
He must not be a great believer in getting a customer to repeat business with him.
To call a spade a spade, it is a shocking RIP-OFF,
enforced by Murphy as door security guard,
and (shamefully) fully endorsed, on the record, by Limerick Panto Society director, Tony Cusack.

These two aforementioned bucko's need to cop on.

It's a panto, not a Ryanair flight to Spain.

v300

This thread just got 15 minutes of air-time on Joe Duffy's Liveline show
today, the 2nd of January, 2007.
Thanks for all your support lads and ladies.
The people have spoken...

Jumpy

Personally I think this is a waste of time, there are far more important issues than a person trying their luck due to non-preparation and paying the price because of it.
This is not an example of rip-off ireland and personally think that it is actually your own fault due to an assumption that your child would be free.
The fact that it made Joe Duffy is beyond belief. Whinge about something worthwhile, its a panto FFS.

MarkR

What was the outcome, did anyone from the concert hall come online?

v300

MarkR wrote:

What was the outcome, did anyone from the concert hall come online?

Michael Murphy and Tony Cusack came on to defend their pricing policy.

wer*

Maybe consider what would happen if infants, under a year old, were allowed in for free and that this was clearly advertised on the panto billing. There is then the potential for a significant amount of babies to be present in the audience, no doubt with several screamers and several teething. We would then have the situation where people will be complaining that their 4- and 6-year old didn't enjoy the panto because of a baby beside them that cried throughout the performance.

While the target audience for any panto will be children, the panto is hardly intended for less than a year old infants. I think the current system is relatively fair and ensures a better experience for the majority of the audience. If someone is determined to do things as a "cohesive family unit", then the option is there to purchase a ticket for the infant - if you are not happy to purchase a ticket for the infant then leave the baby at home. I don't see it as a rip-off situation

v300

wer* wrote:

If someone is determined to do things as a "cohesive family unit", then the option is there to purchase a ticket for the infant - if you are not happy to purchase a ticket for the infant then leave the baby at home. I don't see it as a rip-off situation

I think we will have to agree to differ on this one, though I do understand your point of view.

astrofool

As with a lot of things these days, the rules get made for the extremes due to people exploiting them.

phog

wer* wrote:

Maybe consider what would happen if infants, under a year old, were allowed in for free and that this was clearly advertised on the panto billing. There is then the potential for a significant amount of babies to be present in the audience, no doubt with several screamers and several teething. We would then have the situation where people will be complaining that their 4- and 6-year old didn't enjoy the panto because of a baby beside them that cried throughout the performance.

While the target audience for any panto will be children, the panto is hardly intended for less than a year old infants. I think the current system is relatively fair and ensures a better experience for the majority of the audience. If someone is determined to do things as a "cohesive family unit", then the option is there to purchase a ticket for the infant - if you are not happy to purchase a ticket for the infant then leave the baby at home. I don't see it as a rip-off situation

Well said.

Jumpy

v300 wrote:

I think we will have to agree to differ on this one, though I do understand your point of view.

I doubt you do. You took a small annoyance to the extreme. People fighting for their rights is great, but unless its worthwhile people are just going to think you are constantly whinging. Which I do.
If you can get petrol prices dropped - great, if you can reduce the cost of insurance - great.
But complaining because your kid that you never bought a ticket for isnt going to be let into a production mostly made up of volunteers, please, you have nothing to be proud of.