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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2016 6:17:09 GMT
The Stage reports that a number of theatres are now refusing to sell single seats if it would leave a single seat, even if you contact the box office direct. Obviously very common for online systems to not allow this but usually the box office will sell the seat.
Naming and shaming them: Nimax Theatres (for Romeo and Juliet), and Delfont Macintosh (for Aladdin)
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Post by HereForTheatre on Sept 29, 2016 7:32:31 GMT
I know it's not the box office but i find that London Theatre Direct are very good at letting you leave single seats, i've never had an issue being able to do it on there. Hence why i use it a lot even though the tickets are usually higher in price. Also there is sometimes a bit of a trick you can do to enable you to leave a single seat eleswhere but i don't think i should go into it in case we have spies among us  |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Sept 29, 2016 7:47:36 GMT
Well someone's certainly able to do it judging by the number if singles you see left on the seat plan.
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Post by Musicality21 on Sept 29, 2016 15:53:57 GMT
I don't agree with this at all. There was one case I remember where there were some really good seats at the front of the stalls and some not as good near the back. Because it would leave a single seat we weren't allowed the front ones. It was almost punishing us for being an odd number of three rather than four people. I complained direct to the box office and they ended up letting us do it. The icing on the cake was that when we went someone was sat in the single seat - so it didn't go unsold like they claimed it would.
I understand they don't want to lose money or leave less seats for a bigger party but they are running the risk of turning ticket sales down as well as almost punishing single theatre goers. Although it's probably only a drop in the ocean to them.
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Post by d'James on Sept 29, 2016 15:56:50 GMT
Well someone's certainly able to do it judging by the number if singles you see left on the seat plan. It's so true. How do other people manage it and not me?! |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2016 16:16:12 GMT
Is there always an even number of seats in each row?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2016 17:27:59 GMT
I understand they don't want to lose money or leave less seats for a bigger party but they are running the risk of turning ticket sales down as well as almost punishing single theatre goers. Although it's probably only a drop in the ocean to them. Yes, and it makes me laugh that the argument that's trotted out is always: "For really popular shows, it means couples won't be able to sit together." I don't know how it could have escaped their notice, but for really popular shows, people are generally happy to sit anywhere. Why punish the single folk who get in (reasonably) early for ticket buying? And if the show isn't that popular... well, at least you've sold one damn seat! |
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Post by ncbears on Sept 29, 2016 19:31:16 GMT
IIRC, what I read on this board or its predecessor is: {Spoiler - click to view}
For some sites: Click on two seats (or however many seats you need plus the extra one to become a single) to put in your basket. Then at check-out, you should be able to delete one seat and proceed with the purchase. |
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Post by Dawnstar on Sept 29, 2016 20:09:03 GMT
Usually when I've been unable to book a single seat online I've rung the box office & they've done it. The one time I rang up the box office & they refused was at the Leicester Curve. I was so furious that I promptly tweeted about it, tagging them in, & lo & behold a bit later the box office rang me back & said they could do it after all. It seems naming & shaming sometimes works!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2016 20:20:34 GMT
I did some research on this a few years ago, as this is one of those situations where people have an instinct for what they think will happen and that instinct is completely wrong.
Being good with computers, I wrote a theatre booking simulator. I programmed a selection of different auditorium layouts and then sold imaginary tickets to parties of varying size (but mostly couples) to see what would happen as the auditorium filled up. The seats weren't sold entirely randomly: there were rules to discourage fragmentation as the theatre filled up, and groups were never split up. The order in which people bought tickets was completely random, and I ran trials with and without a "leave no single seat" policy in place. The results were quite interesting.
To start with, there were never more than a very small number of unsold seats: a single-digit quantity. Unless the show's break-even point is 99% there's no commercial significance in the number of seats unsold. What happens is that as the theatre fills up you do get the odd row left with occasional single and rare double seats unsold, but then someone turns up wanting exactly that many seats and the gap is filled. The result is that holes in the seating tend to drift towards the back.
More significantly, the number and location of the unsold seats is critically dependant on the order in which people buy seats and shows no correlation with any policy about allowing single seats to be left. In some cases a "no single seats" policy resulted in fewer unsold seats, but in other cases with a different pattern of buyers the "no single seats" policy resulted in more unsold seats.
And that's just for a single performance. When there are multiple performances and people have some flexibility over when they see a show the number of unsellable seats falls to a single-digit number per week. There really isn't a problem here, except the one that shows create for themselves by pissing off their customers.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Sept 29, 2016 21:01:56 GMT
That wax your 1000th post Matthew, very fitting that it was a cracker!
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Post by kathryn on Sept 29, 2016 21:39:46 GMT
It's common sense - a popular show has enough people wanting tickets to fill single seats, an unpopular one has plenty of seats left for couples anyway, and refusing to leave single seats just means you will end up with embarrassing gaps in prime spots, because you're not attracting enough punters to fill the theatre anyhow. So then you'll have to upgrade people or hand out comps.
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Post by grannyjx6 on Sept 29, 2016 22:23:59 GMT
I was actually not allowed to buy TWO tickets for an almost sold out show at my local City Hall because it would leave ONE single seat next to it when I tried to book online. I phoned up and asked if they could sell me the two tickets and they said their system wouldn't let them do it but suggested I bought all three and sold on the other ticket! I was a big fan of the show but at £60 a ticket, not that big. I then booked through Ticketmaster (yes, I know they rip you off with booking fees) and got two tickets together, much closer to the front.
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Post by ctas on Sept 29, 2016 23:05:55 GMT
My favourite work around with Delfont Mackintosh is either call the box office and do a wheedling "oh but I only wanted one, I love that seat it'd be amazing if I could have it" or just switch to the mobile browser and get it that way.
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Post by showgirl on Sept 30, 2016 4:05:40 GMT
I don't understand how this form of discrimination is still legal (so I suspect it isn't). If you replaced the word "single" with other well-known categories of customer, it would be obvious that no theatre or agent could get away with it - and that there would rightly be an outcry.
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Post by bellboard27 on Sept 30, 2016 8:00:34 GMT
Clearly some theatre management have not progressed beyond Noah's Ark - expecting all of us to come in two by two.
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Post by schuttep on Sept 30, 2016 8:59:18 GMT
It can't be difficult for a theatre to do a bit of research based on their actual bookings for a set period to see how many single seats are booked versus pairs or more. If there are sufficient single seats sold, there is little reason to penalise single bookers (or those leaving single seats). I understand the point that couples may not be able to sit together later in the day but that would be their fault for not booking earlier. Why should I, as a singleton, have to sit in a lesser seat so that later couples booking can get a better one?
I go to the theatre about 100 times a year and sometimes go alone. If rows of seats have even numbered seats, the minute I buy a legit single seat I have, clearly, left a single seat SOMEWHERE in that row anyway!
There have been times when I've booked late in the day and found a lovely little single seat in a prime position because some theatres don't mind bookers leaving single seats. Win/win as far as I'm concerned.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2016 9:14:17 GMT
What REALLY bothers me is when it's a tiny but popular theatre. Really, Almeida? You don't want to leave a single seat alone for Ralph Fiennes playing Richard III? You HONESTLY THINK it's going to remain unsold? I had a hell of a time getting a seat for City Of Angels at the Donmar too for the same reason.
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Post by theatremadness on Sept 30, 2016 10:05:46 GMT
Yes this can be rather frustrating. I love going to the theatre on my own but more often than not, I find I have to give in and book 2 seats and lay out double the amount of money and then ask a friend who I think might be interested but who may/may not be available/have the money. At the end of the day, I'd probably much rather do that than miss out on something I'm desperate to see but I feel like theatres are just screaming "GET A GIRLFRIEND" at me  I've found the National to be pretty good at single seats (for Entry Pass, anyhow) and Harry Potter is great for singles, too. And of course I've done that cheeky spoiler to get around it, too! |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2016 10:53:46 GMT
I don't understand how this form of discrimination is still legal (so I suspect it isn't). If you replaced the word "single" with other well-known categories of customer, it would be obvious that no theatre or agent could get away with it - and that there would rightly be an outcry. As has been explained here MANY times before, probably since the dawn of time and even within this thread and yet again in the last few minutes, the bar is not against purchasing a single seat but is against leaving a single unsold seat. For example, you may be barred from purchasing just a pair from a block of three. So there's no discrimination against a specific group of people. Case dismissed. |
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Post by kathryn on Sept 30, 2016 11:59:55 GMT
What REALLY bothers me is when it's a tiny but popular theatre. Really, Almeida? You don't want to leave a single seat alone for Ralph Fiennes playing Richard III? You HONESTLY THINK it's going to remain unsold? I had a hell of a time getting a seat for City Of Angels at the Donmar too for the same reason. There were times when this could work to your advantage. Remember when those pillar seats at the Comedy/Harold Pinter were a complete bargain? You could almost guarantee that they'd be available to book, because the online system wouldn't let you leave a single seat, and who in their right mind would book a pair with one seat costing £60+ and the other one costing £5? The box office would book the pillar seat for you over the phone or in person, and sure enough by the time the play started someone had snagged that prime position single top-price seat. |
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Post by musicallady on Sept 30, 2016 17:16:13 GMT
I think its shocking. At my local theatres and at the Apollo Theatre via Phone I had no problem. Sadly now I cant make London so three single tickets will be going to waste as they dont take them back.
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Post by Mark on Sept 30, 2016 17:33:35 GMT
I was actually not allowed to buy TWO tickets for an almost sold out show at my local City Hall because it would leave ONE single seat next to it when I tried to book online. I phoned up and asked if they could sell me the two tickets and they said their system wouldn't let them do it but suggested I bought all three and sold on the other ticket! I was a big fan of the show but at £60 a ticket, not that big. I then booked through Ticketmaster (yes, I know they rip you off with booking fees) and got two tickets together, much closer to the front. This is what happened to me in Sunderland recently. There were only 3 tickets in the whole venue left at the cheaper £20 price range and they wouldn't sell me two. This was in person at the box office. I called up and they did it for me. |
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Post by longinthetooth on Sept 30, 2016 18:31:17 GMT
It's not just singles, families or groups of friends can be affected too if their potential booking leaves an odd seat.
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Post by showgirl on Oct 1, 2016 3:37:49 GMT
It would be great to hear a public response to this from some theatres/producers, in the way that the producers of The Girls went public about their ticket pricing policy. Maybe if some of the more amenable ones spoke up about bucking the trend and the positive impact on business (not forgetting goodwill, which is priceless), others could be nudged into following suit rather than having to be forced into it.
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