seating etiquette

Tonight my girlfriend and I attended a show which the company staging it asked me to review. Reserved seating was also set aside for us.

At interval we decided to go out into the foyer and stretch our legs and when we got back, a couple had taken our seats. When we politely explained the situation, the man said that he took them because his girlfriend had poor eyesight, and if we had a problem with that, we should take it up with the manager.

When we said that we would (as I was reviewing the show, it was imperative to the producers and to the review that I see as much as I could unobstructed), we came back with the manager and he tried the same story on them.

We were able to get our seats back, but I have to say this is the first time I have experienced that level of entitlement.

I felt awful that I had to take this kind of action and involve the company on a personal level, but it was not one of those situations where I should just have sucked it up and been done with it.

Has anyone else experienced a similar situation and if so, how have you handled it (so as not to make a scene).

Updated On: 8/2/14 at 12:40 PM

I've accidentally sat in someone else's seats - left orch vs right orch or the wrong row - and omg it was so embarrassing and I felt terrible.

Even when there appear to be empty seats for the whole first act, I'm not comfortable with moving up to them during intermission as many people do. What if those people finally show up and you have to move in the middle of the second act??

Mortifying to me.

I can't imagine being so entitled as to think you can steal someone else's seats and refuse to give them up even when confronted. Just wow.

I watched a little drama, I think it was Playwright Horizons. 2 patrons appeared to have tx stub for the same seat. It took 3 people and about 5 min (they seemed to be holding the curtain) to realize one tx was for a different theater. The man in error said he was with his wife. You would think he'd notice she was missing.