Ticketmaster / Olympia Theatre

Seanieke

I bought 5 tickets for Ross O Carroll Kelly in the Olympia tonight, I was unable to go tonight but the rest of the party went. When they arrived the found that someone else had been given their seats and Managment would not do anything about this, even tho their tickets had been sold last minute at the door. Now one of my party, who is disabled, is sitting in the middle of 4 other strangers while the other 3 are in crappy seats to the side of the stage. They got talking to the managers, Jimmy and Peter, who said it was a ticketmaster problem and walked away. The show has now been on for an hour but the evening is ruined. But it being 9 pm I cant get hold of anyone in the Olympia to talk about it and cant find a complaints number for Ticketmaster anywhere. What can I do?

wmpdd3

If the seat numbers are printed on the tickets then I think you would have a case against the Olympia, but they are unlikley to move people during the show.looks like all you can do is write a letter asking for some recompense at a later date. Can't see how the Olympia could think it was a ticketmaster problem.

Exclamation Marc

To be honest it sounds like they're passing off the problem to Ticketmaster. I'd ring Ticketmaster tomorrow and say that you were moved to the side of the seats into restricted viewing seats and that you want a refund. It's píss poor what the Olympia did, and whilst its their fault, you're probably better off going through Ticketmaster as you have a contract with them.

Just be firm when you call and explain your discomfort and how your night was ruined. If that sort of policy is acceptable then there's no real need for any of us to care what tickets we buy in the future.

As I said, call ticketmaster, be firm and explain the problem in full, and ask for nothing short of a full refund. It's not their fault, but you have the contract with them and they have a contract with the Olympia.

jor el

Your complaint should be with whoever sold the tickets to you. It's up to them to make sure you get what you paid for.

Having said that, you may not be due anything more than what you've already received. You bought tickets for a show, and when you turned up the seats were already gone. You were offered an alternative, which you accepted. The seating arrangement turns out to be not that great, so you should have refused them. By accepting the alternative that was offered, the venue has technically given you what you paid for.

If you were unhappy, you should have left, and not gone in at all.

You can still write to Ticketmaster or The Olympia to complain, but I wouldn't be expecting anything other than an apology for the inconvenience. They may chose to offer something by way of apology, but they don't have to.

penexpers

It's definitely TM's responsibility here - the promoter of the show has outsourced the ticket sales to TM, the Olympia have nothing to do with ticket selling, they just provide the venue.

tatli_lokma

does the fact that the Olympia sold tickets at the door, which were already allocated to the OP not have any inpact on the case?

I see what you are saying about the contract being with TM, but it was the Olympia who basically sold seats which were already paid for.

Were the party late showing up or anything? how can the Olympia sell seats which have already been paid for? bad form on the part of the venue

Exclamation Marc

Cincikchick wrote: »

does the fact that the Olympia sold tickets at the door, which were already allocated to the OP not have any inpact on the case?

I see what you are saying about the contract being with TM, but it was the Olympia who basically sold seats which were already paid for.

Were the party late showing up or anything? how can the Olympia sell seats which have already been paid for? bad form on the part of the venue

It sounds like the venue allowed people who were seated in worse seats to move into the taken seats as opposed to them actually selling the seats over. And then when the actual ticket holders showed up, they merely said sorry you can sit in those seats over there.

tatli_lokma

FireballPitcher wrote: »

It sounds like the venue allowed people who were seated in worse seats to move into the taken seats as opposed to them actually selling the seats over. And then when the actual ticket holders showed up, they merely said sorry you can sit in those seats over there.

no, I take it from the OP's post that the olympia sold on their seats:

OP wrote:

even tho their tickets had been sold last minute at the door

If it is as you suggesnt, then they are still just as responsible as had they sold the tickets twice.
If they allowed people to move to seats they had not paid for - fair enough if the party arrived late. but in this case, I think most people appreciate that they are not seated in their proper seats and if the proper ticket holder shows up you need to move.
If the other people just took it upon themselves to sit in these seats then the management should have been instrumental in getting them to move to their correct seats.
The very least the venue should have done is give the OP's party their proper seats at the interval.

I have never been to a theatre where you could take someone else's seat - not until the interval anyway.

penexpers

Cincikchick wrote: »

does the fact that the Olympia sold tickets at the door, which were already allocated to the OP not have any inpact on the case?

I see what you are saying about the contract being with TM, but it was the Olympia who basically sold seats which were already paid for.

Were the party late showing up or anything? how can the Olympia sell seats which have already been paid for? bad form on the part of the venue

Nope, all ticket sales (including tickets at the door) for the Olympia are handled by Ticketmaster. Tickets bought at the door would actually be bought at the box office beside the venue and that would be hooked up to the TM system.

calex71

Had the same experience myself once in the olympia, had 3 tickets for the front row of the circle. Arrived in plenty of time even before band started to find 3 cheeky mares sat in my seats, I didn't approach them myself I simply went to security and explained the situation and showed him my tickets. The girls were asked for theirs and asked to move.

As said ticket master handle box office sales there so no way they sold the seats. Seats are usually allocated and have seat number on the ticket.

The fault here lies entirely with the olympia, they should have asked the people to move. If that had failed a stink should have been kicked up, Makes me wonder if the manager knew the ppeople sat in the OP's seat's

BrianD

Hang on the OP arrived 60min late for a show that started at 8pm. That's a no show and in fact he was lucky to be allowed in during the performance.

I don't think the Olympia has any case to answer. The late arrivers were offered seats and thus the venue fulfilled their obligations to the customers.

He could always write an ask for arefund but they should have indicated that they would do so at the time and left. Unfortunately, being late isn't going to help their case especially if the Olympia offered to seat them.

wmpdd3

No they arrived on time, but only got talking to a manager after an hour.

tatli_lokma

BrianD wrote: »

Hang on the OP arrived 60min late for a show that started at 8pm. That's a no show and in fact he was lucky to be allowed in during the performance.

Unfortunately, being late isn't going to help their case especially if the Olympia offered to seat them.

they were not late - the OP makes the point that because it was now 9pm (60 mins into the show) he could not get in contact with anyone to complain on behalf of the rest of the party. Nowhere does it say they arrived 60 mins late

BrianD

Cincikchick wrote: »

they were not late - the OP makes the point that because it was now 9pm (60 mins into the show) he could not get in contact with anyone to complain on behalf of the rest of the party. Nowhere does it say they arrived 60 mins late

Perhaps the OP can clarify that. He/she says "The show has now been on for an hour but the evening is ruined." which seems to imply the arrived at 9pm and the evening was ruined due to the lack of seating. But now that you say it could read either way.

I don't understand why they didn't go claim their seats in the first place?

As the other poster stated the tickets are sold from a central TM server so it wouldn't issue the same ticket twice (unless cancelled). The seat stealers probably had tickets but for other seats.

On the subject of seat stealers, the best pair I ever saw was a couple on the balcony in The Point for the Bell X1 gig in 2006. They sat down and when the rightful 'owners' arrived they proceeded to ignore them by snogging each other, It was so blatent it was hillarious. The rightful owners then got a steward who separated the amorous embrace and marched them down stairs.

BrianD

Just to add to the OP. I would suggest that you write to TM rather than ring them and state your case. The procedure is detailed here:

http://www.ticketmaster.ie/h/help.html?tm_link=tm_homeA_i_help

It's the first on the list.

Seanieke

BrianD wrote: »

Hang on the OP arrived 60min late for a show that started at 8pm. That's a no show and in fact he was lucky to be allowed in during the performance.

I wasn't at the show at all due to work commitments, I was informed of this saga about an hour into the show & posted my query on old reliable Boards.

Seanieke

BrianD wrote: »

I don't understand why they didn't go claim their seats in the first place?

As the other poster stated the tickets are sold from a central TM server so it wouldn't issue the same ticket twice (unless cancelled). The seat stealers probably had tickets but for other seats.

They didn't go up to the people in the seats they went straight to mamagement to inform them on the assumption that managment would quicky resolve the matter & as they didn't want to be dragging the person who is sick up & down stairs in the Olympia. Management didn't approach the people in the seats and rufused to let my party down to the seats.

Skid

Seanieke wrote: »

I wasn't at the show at all due to work commitments, I was informed of this saga about an hour into the show & posted my query on old reliable Boards.

You still haven't clarified what time your friends arrived at The Olympia.

Exclamation Marc

SkidMark wrote: »

You still haven't clarified what time your friends arrived at The Olympia.

Slightly irrelevant no? You (a ticket buyer) would have a contract with ticketmaster for the seats offered at the time of purchase. Nowhere does it state that seats are only guaranteed until showtime or anytime after (a clause in some US ticketing schemes) so they really have no right to move you, or re-seat you otherwise they could easily sort their mates out anytime they felt like it.

When I buy my tickets online or wherever I'm offered certain seats before I pay. Nowhere does it say that there's a chance these aren't my seats regardless of what time I arrive at. Nowhere on the small print of the tickets does it state my tickets aren't guaranteed either.

Seanieke

SkidMark wrote: »

You still haven't clarified what time your friends arrived at The Olympia.

They were there in time for the show

BrianD

FireballPitcher wrote: »

Slightly irrelevant no? You (a ticket buyer) would have a contract with ticketmaster for the seats offered at the time of purchase. Nowhere does it state that seats are only guaranteed until showtime or anytime after (a clause in some US ticketing schemes) so they really have no right to move you, or re-seat you otherwise they could easily sort their mates out anytime they felt like it.

When I buy my tickets online or wherever I'm offered certain seats before I pay. Nowhere does it say that there's a chance these aren't my seats regardless of what time I arrive at. Nowhere on the small print of the tickets does it state my tickets aren't guaranteed either.

The only contract you have with TM is to purchase a ticket on your behalf from the promoter and supply you with a ticket over the counter, post or what ever means is available. In fact if you read the samll print they claim that a booking is for entry to an event, not a guarantee to receive tickets.

Entry is still reserved by the event promoter according to their policies and they can refuse admission on the grounds of public safety and overcrowding. It wouldn't be applicable strictly for a seated gig but at a standing only gig you could be refused admission if you turned up late and the place was full. You'd still be entitled to a refund though.


It is common practice at theatrical performances not to allow late arrivals in until a suitable break. Actually, it says on the back of all TM tickets that 'Latecomers may not be admitted until a suitable break, but admission can not always be guaranteed'. In fairbess to teh staff, uprooting the 'seat stealers' and installing the rightful owners could cause a disturbance affecting the enjoyment of other patrons.

The other thing is that it dosn't say that seats are guaranteed. Assuming that that the event is an all seated event then tickets have to be allocated per seat within the different sections of the venue on a first come first served basis. Generally a section e.g. Upper Circle is the same price so if they are seated in the correct section but in the wrong seats then there may not be grounds for complaint.

The best course of action is for the ticket buyer to make their complaint to TM.

Some theatres do have seating and late admission policies on place:

Aiken Promotions Policy ...

"A seat in the defined position or a seat of equal or better status as stated on the ticket manifest (if for production reasons a seat has had to be removed, constitutes a hazard or has impaired or reduced sightlines). "

Gaiety Theatre ...

"The Gaiety Theatre reserves the right to provide alternative seats to those specified on the ticket.
Latecomers will not be admitted to the theatre until a suitable break or interval."

Abbey Theatre ...
"What is the procedure for latecomers?
We will do our best to accommodate patrons who arrive late, however this depends on the availability of seats close to the entry routes and the policy with each production, as obviously we cannot be disruptive to the actors on stage or the audience. "

Doesn't seem to be a policy in place for many other venues or theatres.