Question about SCOTTSBORO rush (& complaint about a box office employee)- Page 3

[masb19872]

Posted: 10/21/10 at 12:24am

Ghostlight, there was no one anywhere near the box office when I approached (other than another theatre employee), nor was there anyone in line when I left, or in the ten minutes after this encounter that I was with my friend outside the theatre.

Also, I wasn't angry about them not honoring the past dates, and I do plan to use them at another date, now that I know the past date policy. I have no issues with that, or not being able to get rush tickets. Rush tickets are a privilege, not something I'm entitled to. It is fair to expect a consistent policy, and a professional attitude, though. And it was the attitude, and the fact that there's apparently only one employee enforcing this "policy," that I'm upset about. I was very surprised by the box office employee's behavior. She was rude from the moment I asked a genuine question, and was very condescending from that moment on. I've only had positive experiences with the Lyceum's box office staff otherwise, who've been more than helpful and friendly, so this kind of threw me off.

And the reason a lot of theatres do rush is what you said: The seats would be empty, so why not sell them at a discounted rate and at least make some money off of them? If they have 100 empty seats that normally cost $40, is it better to not sell them and make $0, or sell them at $27 and make $2700?
Updated On: 10/21/10 at 12:24 AM

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 10/21/10 at 12:27am

eta: we crossposted:

"And the reason a lot of theatres do rush is what you said: The seats would be empty, so why not sell them at a discounted rate and at least make some money off of them? If they have 100 empty seats that normally cost $40, is it better to not sell them and make $0, or sell them at $27 and make $2700?"

Great idea, but it just doesn't work that way, masb19872. They have an upper limit as to how many discounted seats they'll sell. Where did you hear otherwise?

I think the problem is that no one seems to know what the official policy is, adamgreer, if there has actually been a consistent one. I don't know of any theater whose policy is to sell an unlimited amount of rush tickets simply because seats are unsold. Rocks' story is secondhand. masb19872 had "been told that they were sold as long as balcony seats were available", which really, is very unlikely. Where did s/he hear that? The upper limit of tickets sold at rush prices usually is 20, even if there are other seats available.

There's just a lot of secondhand information and outright misinformation and stories that strike me as hard to believe. Honest, I just can't get past the idea that there is a box office person out there who decides on a whim that she's just not going to sell rush tickets today. WHY would they do it and HOW do they get away with it? It makes no sense. This is why I keep saying to file a complaint. Why aren't people asking to speak to management or a supervisor on the spot? Instead of complaining here about that mean old box office lady, why aren't they dealing with their problems then and there, if this is such an issue?
Updated On: 10/21/10 at 12:27 AM

[adamgreer]

Posted: 10/21/10 at 12:35am

This is why I keep saying to file a complaint. Why aren't people asking to speak to management or a supervisor on the spot? Instead of complaining here about that mean old box office lady, why aren't they dealing with their problems then and there, if this is such an issue?

On this point, I completely agree with you. If this happened to me, I would not have left the box office without speaking to the house manager and without collecting the name and title of the woman in question.

I think the problem is that no one seems to know what the official policy is, adamgreer, if there has actually been a consistent one.

I agree with you again. This seems to be the crux of the issue.

I don't know of any theater whose policy is to sell an unlimited amount of rush tickets simply because seats are unsold.

A number of shows now sell "whatever's left" at rush prices the day of the show. Off the top of my head, Verge, Chicago, Fela, Life in the Theatre, Night Music, and Rock of Ages don't sell a set number of seats at rush prices from performance to performance. They simply sell what they have left over (usually on the side orchestra). The amount of seats available differs from performance to performance, based on how heavily sold the show is that day.

[masb19872]

Posted: 10/21/10 at 12:43am

I do plan to file a complaint about tonight, but by the end of everything, I wasn't even in the mood to see a show tonight. I was told by another box office staff member that it was "what's left." With the number of theatres and shows that do offer that as their policy (granted, these are usually partial view, mezz, and/or balcony), it's not that out there. It's still early in the run, so it's reasonable that they may have changed the policy, but regardless, the attitude wasn't necessary.
Updated On: 10/21/10 at 12:43 AM

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 10/21/10 at 1:16am

Rocks' story is secondhand. masb19872 had "been told that they were sold as long as balcony seats were available", which really, is very unlikely. Where did s/he hear that? The upper limit of tickets sold at rush prices usually is 20, even if there are other seats available.

Where did you hear that the upper limit of rush tickets is 20? Why should we give your information anymore credence than WickedRock's secondhand story and masb's firsthand account? At least they got information from the source. You're basing your argument on nothing more than assumptions- about the box office policies and the character of the 3 posters who had similar experiences.

Updated On: 10/21/10 at 01:16 AM

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 10/21/10 at 2:07am

I didn't hear that 20 seats is usually the upper limit, 'skittles, it's been my experience on many shows. That may not be the case here (though masb was told it was), and I've never claimed that. I'll take adamgreer's word that other shows do sell more than that if he has experienced that, but as he has said, we have yet to hear what the official policy, if there is one, actually is for this show. masb still hasn't said where s/he been told that rush seats were sold "as long as balcony seats are available".

I don't get where my credence comes into play here, as I'm not making any claims. Pretty much what I've been doing is pointing out the outlandishness of the claims that have been posted (this woman is doing this for no reason at all? Is she insane, or looking to be fired?). I've been asking questions, and wondering why, if this is such an issue, why on earth people aren't at least trying to resolve this on the spot?

This woman is not working alone in the box office. She has a supervisor, she has colleagues. There is a house manager. If she is that rude, is turning away customers for no reason at all, is blatantly circumventing theater policy for some bizarre personal reason, why aren't these customers reporting her to her supervisor or to the house manager there and then? How is it possible she is continuing to get away with this - and why is she doing it? Why are these aggrieved customers letting her get away with this? Does any of this make sense to you? Something is missing from these stories.

I'll say one more time I would love to hear the result of Rock's friend's complaint (for whom I've provided the address and the person to address it to), or better yet, from someone who tries to resolve this on the spot, should this be an ongoing problem.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 10/21/10 at 9:24am

This is getting a little nuts....

And for the record, I too think my friend should have done something about it on the spot. I would have if I was there. But she didn't. So..I'm not sure if I'm supposed to apologize for that? I'm just passing this story along. I'll survive, it's not the end of the world as I know it. I am just annoyed and frustrated by the situation, as anyone certainly would be in my shoes.

[mikem]

Posted: 10/21/10 at 11:00am

I was at the box office around 6:45 last night, and the woman at the box office was unusually nice and helpful. Did the woman you interacted with last night have red hair? She really tried hard to find something that worked for me and also seemed to be very nice to the other people in line. Someone asked about rush; I wasn't paying attention to the answer but it didn't seem to be an uncomfortable conversation.

I'm wondering if the box office person means that the rush tickets are often gone at 10am, and she is communicating poorly that is what she means. Way back when, I remember the box office guy at Aida tell me that if I wasn't at the box office at 10am, I wasn't getting a rush ticket but he clarified that it was because they were all gone right away. Maybe she means, "They are all gone by 10am," and it comes out as, "We don't sell them after 10am," which is factually correct but has a different implication to the listener.

I'm not sure that shows that don't have specific seats set aside for rush don't still have an upper limit for rush seats. Otherwise, you would be able to get a rush seat at any time for any performance that wasn't sold out, and I don't think that's true for all such shows. (I'm pretty sure that's not true for Chicago, at least.)

John Cullum is brilliant, by the way (not that that should come as a surprise).

Updated On: 10/21/10 at 11:00 AM

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 10/21/10 at 11:20am

masb still hasn't said where s/he been told that rush seats were sold "as long as balcony seats are available".

Yes, he did. He said just two posts before yours that he was told that by a different box office person on another day. You imply that the policy is 20 seats because masb was told it was 20 seats, but he was told by a different person who works there something different. Why is the second person right and the first one should be ignored, at least in your mind?

mikem: Most shows don't literally sell anything left as rush, but many times they will sell anything that's left in a certain section (balcony, side orchestra, etc.). Some do sell literally anything, though. I've rushed shows last minute and been given an unsold premium or house seat before.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 10/21/10 at 1:02pm

ghostlight, it's just a little baffling that you seem more concerned with disproving the posters and making them out to be liars than you are about the bad customer service from the box office employee- especially when you've repeatedly blamed any chance of a negative encounter solely on the posters.

[mywonderwa11]

Posted: 10/21/10 at 2:22pm

I went this morning around 11:30 and the woman working the box office was nice. She gladly sold me a rush ticket and told me to have a nice day.

She was maybe in her thirties with short blondish hair. I had no problem.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 10/21/10 at 2:58pm

"I'm not sure that shows that don't have specific seats set aside for rush don't still have an upper limit for rush seats. Otherwise, you would be able to get a rush seat at any time for any performance that wasn't sold out, and I don't think that's true for all such shows. (I'm pretty sure that's not true for Chicago, at least)."

While the producers of a show may set a limit on the number of seats available for rush, the box office staff can go above and beyond that limit if there are available seats. They can apply any of the available pricing structures to any seat in the house. So let's say they ran out of the rush seats available for that performance. They can apply the rush price to any other available seat in the house.

[AnotherHat]

Posted: 10/21/10 at 5:50pm

I went to the theater Wednesday thinking I could get a ticket for the matinee, only to find they don't do Wednesday matinees (except for next week). The box office lady was actually very kind and took the time to discuss other matinees I might see instead. I decided to spend the afternoon at the Metropolitan Museum but, since I was in town anyway, I bought a ticket to that evening's performance. The show's really great. I truly enjoyed it. But, back to the topic, I found the box office lady to be very friendly and courteous. Maybe the same as Wonderwall?Short blond hair but a I think bit older than her thirties. No offense meant.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 10/21/10 at 7:18pm

"it's just a little baffling that you seem more concerned with disproving the posters and making them out to be liars than you are about the bad customer service from the box office employee"

Then I'm doing a poor job of explaining myself, 'skittles. Mikem put it far better than I have. His possible scenario that there is a box office person with poor communication skills is far more likely than the idea of a rogue box office person withholding rush tickets for no reason at all.

To be perfectly honest, had Rocks said he experienced this himself, and had he not used the word "bitch" regarding something as trivial as a $13 difference in ticket price, I probably would never have posted at all in this thread. In fact, had Rocks been there, he probably wouldn't have needed to post the thread because he probably would have been able to resolve it, or possibly the problem would never have occurred. As regards to my lack of concern about bad box office service, I am the only one in this thread to give specific instructions as to where to most effectively complain, AND strongly encouraged them to do it. Repeatedly.

I'm not blaming anyone, and I'm not calling anyone a liar. I'm just asking for clarification on the policy and asking that people have all the facts in hand before rushing to judgement. To consider that this just might be a case of miscommunication or ignorance rather than some malicious bitch randomly withholding rush tickets just because she doesn't feel like selling them.

"So let's say they ran out of the rush seats available for that performance. They can apply the rush price to any other available seat in the house."

They can, and it seems clear that that is how I've gotten unasked-for discounts in the past, Fosse76. They are certainly not under any obligation to do so, however.

One thing about this thread I do like is that it has brought out some good box office stories. We only tend to hear the horror stories. Hardly anyone ever recounts the good ones.
Updated On: 10/21/10 at 07:18 PM

[musikman]

Posted: 10/21/10 at 7:43pm

This thread is so strange to me. The Lyceum theater has consistently had, at least for me, the nicest box office staff on Broadway, especially for student rush tickets. Who knows what may be going on over there right now.

[Blockhead24]

Posted: 10/21/10 at 8:11pm

I ran into WickedRocks' friend shortly after the incident and the woman that some of you are describing isn't the woman she's referring to. The women in question is new to the Lyceum because I've often seen her at the Booth.

[hubee]

Posted: 10/22/10 at 2:32pm

ha, I used to hate a woman at the Booth.

But yah, previous to this, Lyceum was one of the better box offices.

But I've also gotten different responses from different people in the same box office before. Most notorious was Al Hirschfeld (I'm sure I'm spelling that wrong) where the woman there refused to sell standing room (back when Hair was selling out fast) for some reason (she said to come back after lottery), went right to the guy next window who sold it to me. Ridiculous. (And I didn't even have the first standing spot as someone bought before I did).

[adamgreer]

Posted: 10/24/10 at 10:07am

The woman who used to work at the Booth that is now at the Lyceum is a total witch. I've dealt with her and her unpleasantness before. If this is who people are referring to, then I have no trouble believing this is exactly what happened.

That being said, ljay and I rushed the show about 1:15 yesterday afternoon (for a 3 PM matinee) and the woman we dealt with could not have been nicer. She had short, curly, dark hair and glasses. Ended up in Row A of the balcony, on the aisle.

The show, which I'll post about in another thread, was kind of brilliant, by the way.