I am SO SICK of Rude Box Office People... — Page 2

Why don't they get rid of the horrible staff at the Belasco? I am seeing the show next week. I guess it will be an adventure!

I've never been treated rudely at a box office. There are a few times when I've been treated nicely, but most of the time, they sound bored and indifferent.

I don't work in a box office and never have, but I worked at a concession stand at a fair once and it was hell. Some people order incredible amounts of food and when I'm really tired (who isn't when they're towards the end of their shift on a hot summer day surrounded by food they can't eat), I tend to forget parts of their orders. When I'm filling them I'd politely ask, "You also wanted ______ and ______, right?" Most people nicely repeat the parts I forgot, but some explode. It puts me in a worser mood, but I try not to release my frustration on other customers. You should always be nice to people, regardless of whether you're a worker or a customer.

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"City Center are the same rude people I dealt with and frankly, I doubt I will ever go see anything there again."

oh great, I was just going to get tickets to one of their shows

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Soon after 'Spamalot' opened, I went to the box office asking when was the next date they had ONE ticket available in the first dozen rows of the orchestra. They promptly responded "Never. Is never soon enough?"

While I agree that sometimes yes it is all about how polite you are to them sometimes they can just have sticks up their asses for no apparent reason. I'll refer back to my experience at the Belasco. I went in with a couple of my friends to rush that afternoons performance of Journey's End. There was absolutley no one in the lobby the conversation went like this

Me: Hello, I was wondering if you had any rush tickets left for this afternoon's performance-?

Her: WHERE'S YOUR ID?!?!

Me: Oh I'm sorry (whip out ID)

Her: Alright fine it's twenty dollars.

Me: ok (taking literally 3 seconds to turn and ask my buddies if they have an extra twenty because I only had two fives and ten singles)

Her: HURRY UP!!!!!

Me: Sorry.

She literally shoved the ticket out so fast that it fell on the ground so I lean down to pick it up.

Her: EXCUSE ME, NEXT PERSON!!

and once my friend also asked for rush she proceeded to be a huge bitch to him too. Now I know that may not seem like much (and it's certainly not as bad as what some of you have gone through...good lord!) but I've never been barked at had my eyes rolled or had someone make it seem like they had no time at all to bother with me. The thing that didn't it for me was her really angry grunting as she processed my order and the way she just shoved the ticket at me. It was so nasty and she gave me the dirtiest look afterwards. She had the most annoyed and condescending tone and I was just so taken a back at how one could be so nasty when there wasn't anyone else buying tickets and I had not shown any sign of disrespect. Someone honestly needs to write a letter to the management. I wanted to tell the women that her and her fellow staff are KNOWN for being terrible and nasty.

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I know it's no excuse for rude behavior but I would imagine that working in a box office on Broadway might put the folks behind the window under a lot of stress. They are in a tiny space that must feel like a cell in a prison. They have a thick window of security glass that makes it hard to talk through. They probably have phones that are jangling off the hook. They might have 5 people in line and 3 calls on hold. They have the producers breathing down their necks. They have to coordinate allocations of tickets to TKTS. They have to prepare house orders. They have no margin for error. They have to prepare a statement for each performance. They have constant unflexible deadlines (two deadlines on matinee days). They sometimes have to solve the impossible. The majority of the questions they recieve from the customer are all the same "that's all you have??...don't you have anything closer??...granny is sick can I return her ticket?...can we come tomorrow instead?...is the show really good?...how much are tickets for that show across the street?...do I have to climb any stairs?...do you have anything on the center aisle?...how come she got better tickets than I did?...can I write a check?...where can I eat?...when does it end?...do you have any backstage passes?...can I use your phone?...why was my credit card declined?...did anyone turn in a pair of gloves from last night?...will I be able to see from there?...where can I park?...when do the doors open?...what should I wear?...can I bring my camera?...what time does the 8 o'clock show start?".

I guess it takes a really special person to overcome those challenges and keep everyone happy. I know I couldn't do it.

Once again, the box offices have not changed in sizes. The folks working there KNOW how small they are. That's no excuse.

The rude ones need to find another job.

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In Fla, the toll booth operators are SOOOO nice !!!

(just a useless tidbit, I thought I would throw in)

Wow ! Now THAT's funny !

I've only had good experiences with the folks at City Center, too. From what I've seen, they're only rude when the customer is rude to them (which I know is wrong, but I understand the mentality). And I've seen some very rude customers at City Center. The woman in front of me when I went to pick up my tickets for FOLLIES literally cursed the box office attendant out because the performance was sold out.

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I'm another person who works in customer service, and I am nice to some really rude people on a daily basis. It is possible, and you should be doing it if your job is customer service.

Here's a thought; if you've received really s****y service and you think it's unacceptable, how about writing to the management instead of/as well as complaining on here? If the management are made aware that the attitudes of their staff is causing distress to the point of some people not wanting to see their show because they're afraid they'll get bitched at, then they can do something about it. :3

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I've certainly dealt with some box office workers having bad days but in fairness I have to say that the lady at the Walter Kerr was so nice to me when I was there a couple of weeks ago. -- Because of weather and FAA delays, I got to NY eight hours late. The cab driver was able to get me from the airport to the theater just before 8:00 and the woman at the box office was very nice getting me my ticket and calling someone to check my suitcase (it wasn't huge - but it certainly couldn't have made it into the theater) and I was in my seat with a couple of minutes to spare. I was so very appreciative after what had been a really horrible day.

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