Old Vic £10 PWC previews

[crowblack]

Forgive my ignorance, but what are the Old Vic's PWC previews and how do they work? I'm supposedly signed up for emails but don't seem to be getting them, and never see these mythical £10 tickets onscreen. 

[Marwood]

There were £10 tickets on offer for Girl From The North Country (I got a stalls seats about 10 rows back), but despite being informed they were on sale (and their website saying there are 'A Few Tickets Left') for A Christmas Carol, could not see any at all at a lower price.

They are/were usually for tickets in the first couple of weeks of previews, if you've signed up for them you should get an email from the Old Vic telling you when the book window opens (although you'll usually be in a queue for a couple of hours when they do go on sale, and it's the luck of the draw when it comes to getting a decent seat).

[crowblack]

Thanks - I double checked my email account with them, but no messages came through today. I was quite interested in A Christmas Carol, but not at their whopping regular prices.

[Sam]

Anyone else receive an email from the Old Vic saying that they're no longer eligible for the PWC previews? I don't remember them being for a certain age range?

"We know that you have previously attended a performance at The Old Vic and we wanted to thank you for your support. The PwC £10 Previews scheme was created back in 2015 to inspire a new audience to visit our theatre and, since then, over 127,468 people have visited us for the first time.



We do hope you will come back, and, although you are no longer eligible for the scheme, we wanted to give you more information on how to visit."

[jek]

Yes, quite a few of us have got this and have talked about it on The Real Thing thread.

[Dave B]

Complete lack of any info in the email and zero eligibility criteria showing on the website. Replied and asked for more info...

[jamb0r]

The email was not clear at all so I queried it and received the below response. Looks like it’s only available for people that haven’t ever booked with the Old Vic before which is hugely disappointing. There’s no mention of this requirement on the PwC page on the Old Vic website either.

“Thank you for your e-mail, and my apologies for the lack of clarity. The PwC scheme is designed with the aim of encouraging new, first-time theatre-goers to visit the Old Vic. As a result of this renewed focus, I'm sorry to say you no longer qualify as you have booked with us before. We do have tickets available from £13 throughout the run - even after previews - and clear view seats available from £25. We hope you will take advantage of these seats when considering visiting the Old Vic again.”

[aspieandy]

yup, as above; no explanation.  Tbf, it's been a very generous scheme (imo!).

Thank you to PricewaterhouseCoopers.

[Jon]

My hunch as I said in The Real Thing is that the PwC sponsorship is ending so they're tightening up the eligibility. We've seen this happen before with other similar schemes which offered cheaper tickets like Travelex at the NT or Barclays Front Row at the Donmar where once the funding is over, they have to end it or amend it.

[ceebee]

I just spent fifteen minutes on the phone to Box Office. The PWC scheme now is only available to people who have never booked with the Old Vic before. Aside from telling them that the email is an absolute PR disaster in terms of the lack of information and the assumptions made, I have also pointed out to them that many people enjoy the fun of the PWC "lottery" - I mentioned that many of us on here give updates on queue progress, which number we are etc, all in the knowledge that it is basically a lottery process and sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I told them that as a result of failing to secure seats through the PWC scheme, I have subsequently bought full price seats on the basis that I wanted to see a particular show anyway. I have made it clear that by excluding people from having the option to participate, they are denying themselves the conversion opportunity of securing a customer purchase from somebody who is already in the system and ready to spend.

What a stupid, ill-thought out, clunky way of telling patrons who have literally spent many thousands of pounds with the theatre over numerous years.

I will probably consciously spend less and opt to go to other theatres simply by virtue of not joining the mad PWC scramble. I probably "overspend" with the Old Vic anyway compared to other theatres, as it is convenient and one that (up until this point) i have been happy to support, in the understanding that some of the money I spend goes into community projects and good causes as well as perhaps more ambitious programming. The net result of this experiment will probably see loyal customers feel slightly less loyal and remind them that there are other theatres competing for business who might value their business more.

[Dave B]

www.pwc.co.uk/who-we-are/the-old-vic.html

Not seeing anything here reflecting any changes.

[ceebee]

Sept 6, 2024 15:02:34 GMT aspieandy said:

yup, as above; no explanation.  Tbf, it's been a very generous scheme (imo!).

Thank you to PricewaterhouseCoopers.

It's a corporate sponsorship which enabled a lottery that the Old Vic might otherwise not have been able to offer.   Yes, thanks to PwC for their sponsorship, and for the decent intention of trying to make theatre more accessible, but whilst it felt generous, it was simply a subsidy with a corporate badge on for a load of preview tickets.  Aside from a Christmas Carol, often the PwC allocation isn't exhausted so quite how they're going to find 500 fresh bums on seats for five previews of each show is going to be interested.  I guess it's an easy way to wind it all down.

[Jon]

Sept 6, 2024 15:10:18 GMT ceebee said:

I just spent fifteen minutes on the phone to Box Office. The PWC scheme now is only available to people who have never booked with the Old Vic before. Aside from telling them that the email is an absolute PR disaster in terms of the lack of information and the assumptions made, I have also pointed out to them that many people enjoy the fun of the PWC "lottery" - I mentioned that many of us on here give updates on queue progress, which number we are etc, all in the knowledge that it is basically a lottery process and sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I told them that as a result of failing to secure seats through the PWC scheme, I have subsequently bought full price seats on the basis that I wanted to see a particular show anyway. I have made it clear that by excluding people from having the option to participate, they are denying themselves the conversion opportunity of securing a customer purchase from somebody who is already in the system and ready to spend.

What a stupid, ill-thought out, clunky way of telling patrons who have literally spent many thousands of pounds with the theatre over numerous years.

I will probably consciously spend less and opt to go to other theatres simply by virtue of not joining the mad PWC scramble. I probably "overspend" with the Old Vic anyway compared to other theatres, as it is convenient and one that (up until this point) i have been happy to support, in the understanding that some of the money I spend goes into community projects and good causes as well as perhaps more ambitious programming. The net result of this experiment will probably see loyal customers feel slightly less loyal and remind them that there are other theatres competing for business who might value their business more.

I hope you didn't berate them too much because the staff at the box office aren't at fault here.

TBH these schemes are usually time limited due to the nature of how they're funded. It happened so many times in the past at other theatre that while I'm a bit disappointed, I'm not surprised at the same time. 

[ceebee]

Sept 6, 2024 15:11:32 GMT Dave B said:

www.pwc.co.uk/who-we-are/the-old-vic.html

Not seeing anything here reflecting any changes.

Nothing changed on the OV website either - but then when an organisation can't even construct a decent customer email to inform them about the changes, why worry about updating the website(s)?  It is interesting to me how this is playing out.  If they had perhaps spent more than five minutes on the communication process, they could have spun this as: "Make room for some newbies!   For the next three productions, PwC tickets will be exclusively available to customers who have never bought tickets with the Old Vic before.  We are sorry for any disappointment caused but hope you will still take advantage of the range of prices we offer to book for one of our upcoming shows."

[ceebee]

Sept 6, 2024 15:18:16 GMT Jon said:

Sept 6, 2024 15:10:18 GMT ceebee said:

I just spent fifteen minutes on the phone to Box Office. The PWC scheme now is only available to people who have never booked with the Old Vic before. Aside from telling them that the email is an absolute PR disaster in terms of the lack of information and the assumptions made, I have also pointed out to them that many people enjoy the fun of the PWC "lottery" - I mentioned that many of us on here give updates on queue progress, which number we are etc, all in the knowledge that it is basically a lottery process and sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I told them that as a result of failing to secure seats through the PWC scheme, I have subsequently bought full price seats on the basis that I wanted to see a particular show anyway. I have made it clear that by excluding people from having the option to participate, they are denying themselves the conversion opportunity of securing a customer purchase from somebody who is already in the system and ready to spend.

What a stupid, ill-thought out, clunky way of telling patrons who have literally spent many thousands of pounds with the theatre over numerous years.

I will probably consciously spend less and opt to go to other theatres simply by virtue of not joining the mad PWC scramble. I probably "overspend" with the Old Vic anyway compared to other theatres, as it is convenient and one that (up until this point) i have been happy to support, in the understanding that some of the money I spend goes into community projects and good causes as well as perhaps more ambitious programming. The net result of this experiment will probably see loyal customers feel slightly less loyal and remind them that there are other theatres competing for business who might value their business more.

I hope you didn't berate them too much because the staff at the box office aren't at fault here.

TBH these schemes are usually time limited due to the nature of how they're funded. It happened so many times in the past at other theatre that while I'm a bit disappointed, I'm not surprised at the same time. 

It was a good conversation - the box office person was very friendly and listened to my perspective.  Nothing has changed with the scheme other than it is purely to attract brand new bookers.  Will be interesting to see how this impacts the Old Vic's sales, if at all.

[Jon]

Sept 6, 2024 15:16:53 GMT ceebee said:

Sept 6, 2024 15:02:34 GMT aspieandy said:

yup, as above; no explanation.  Tbf, it's been a very generous scheme (imo!).

Thank you to PricewaterhouseCoopers.

It's a corporate sponsorship which enabled a lottery that the Old Vic might otherwise not have been able to offer.   Yes, thanks to PwC for their sponsorship, and for the decent intention of trying to make theatre more accessible, but whilst it felt generous, it was simply a subsidy with a corporate badge on for a load of preview tickets.  Aside from a Christmas Carol, often the PwC allocation isn't exhausted so quite how they're going to find 500 fresh bums on seats for five previews of each show is going to be interested.  I guess it's an easy way to wind it all down.

I wouldn't be surprised if the number of PwC seats are reduced or if the same number of seats are spread over more previews. 

[bigredapple]

Regardless of the changes to the scheme, the email was an awful way to announce it.

They clearly tried to sneak in the bad news in a nice way. It didn’t work, and seems like they’re clearly trying to hide it and not being upfront

[foxa]

I came on to see if anyone else understood the email as I bristled at its 'not wanted on voyage' tone. As said above, just a phrase along the lines of, 'you are no longer eligible as you have previously booked and the scheme is now for first-time Old Vic bookers only' would have been fine. Though I wonder how many of those they will find for some of the offerings. Still, it was good while it lasted and I certainly took a punt on productions I wouldn't have otherwise booked for,so there's that - for them and for me.

[Mark]

I don’t think I’ve received this email despite having booked many times through the scheme. Are first time theatre goers really the sort of theatre goers to go to first previews?

[raiseitup]

Very poor email communication, I read it and reread it and still couldn't make heads or tails of what was changing.

Presumably if you really wanted to get the £10 tickets still, there's nothing stopping someone booking with a different email address than the one that has previously booked the PWC tickets...

[Paulw]

I haven’t checked my emails since seeing this so don’t know if I have it or not I know I have used it in the past for a couple of things so I would imagine it’s there.

Simple solution if you still want to partake in this register with a different email address! No purchase history on that account so therefore eligible

[Jon]

I don't think the Old Vic would amend a scheme and have it circumnavigating by people changing email addresses, I imagine it'll be a lot more stringent than that!

[westendcub]

All, I tweeted them & they sent a DM (below)

Hi,

Thank you for your message regarding the PwC scheme. The scheme is unique in that there are no barriers to stop people booking at any time and we understand that due to this, you may have attended more than once through the scheme. However, the scheme is intended to encourage first time bookers to The Old Vic and it is those people who have priority as there are a limited amount of tickets available. We hope that people understand that we would like for everyone who wants to, to have access to the £10 tickets for their first visit.

Best,
Elin OV

My response

Hi Elin,

Appreciate getting back to me.

Sorry I still don’t understand, have you changed policy that going forward only a brand new signee that hasn’t ever booked a ticket before will be eligible for PWC tickets and then once they select a show and go to a performance than this scheme becomes unavailable to them?

I have looked at the website and it does not state anything like this, so am confused as are many of my friends and my theatre contacts whom have been contact today and have received this disappointing email today.

So to confirm, after years, we are locked out of the PWC scheme? If the case, are you planning to post this change of policy and make this clear on your website how the scheme will operate going forward?

Matthew

[kathryn]

They don’t check ID on the door and they send tickets via email - so if you use a different email address and name/address, how would they know? Especially if you used a different payment method too.

Having said that I really don’t think it is worth the hassle to circumvent it!

[kathryn]

So it looks like once again we have a scheme that was intended to get ‘first time theatregoers’ in that is apparently ineffective at doing so and just used repeatedly by the same regular theatregoers.

Showing once again that the problem is not cost per se, it is knowledge.

To actually know about PWC previews you have to be a theatre geek already. Non-theatre-geeks generally don’t find out about a show until the reviews come out, at which point it is too late.
Run the scheme for long enough and you will run out of theatre geeks who have not booked for the Old Vic before.