The continuing decline of Box Office services in the theatre

Not getting proper tickets is one of my pet peeves, which is why I always choose box office collection as delivery method.

If one doesn't have access to a printer, the box office should always be able to print replacement tickets.

Paying for a ticket, then paying for the privelege of buying it, then paying again for them to send it to you, all while you've "self-served" on-line has to be one of the biggest scams of our age.

I always forget I chose the Print at Home option. I had an incident at my first time at the ENO. I had completely forgotten I had chose the Print option so was all "CLUTCH A PEARL" mortified when my ticket wasn't available to collect.

Ticketmaster do this don't they? Among many others.Imagine all the extra revenue that amounts to. We had a discussion about this previously and someone said that it's because the various agencies involved all take their cut and that this is outside of the control of the producers who only govern the ticket price itself. Ok, I get that running booking systems costs money but just wrap the whole thing up into one price for the customer and let the various parties sort it out in the background. Advertising tickets at a particular price and then clapping on unavoidable charges at check out was stopped in the airline industry, I don't see that this is any different. It smacks of leading the customer on until the very last page in the hope that they'll just think "oh well, I've come this far sooo....". Grrrr! 

Perhaps other companies should do the same thing. Shops could have a browsing charge and a watching-you-to-make-sure-you-don't-steal-anything charge and a using-the-checkout charge. Railway companies could supplement their income with a ticket-issuing charge and a train-boarding-and-exiting charge and a train-maintenance levy and a what-are-you-going-to-do-walk?-good-luck-with-that fee. Why should it only be theatres that benefit from this outright dishonesty creative pricing strategy?

One thing that many people don't appreciate that the cost of printing the tickets is rarely, if ever, absorbed by the theatre. They pass that cost on to the producers of the show.

In some places that can be 5p plus VAT per ticket - but in at least one ATG venue I have worked in, it is 24p plus VAT.

Add in the fact that credit card charges are either passed on to the producers (or as a surcharge to those booking) and it is clear that many theatres are fleecing everyone involved in the deal.

Given that theatres wouldn't exist without selling tickets, you would think that they would actually include these sorts of costs in their own budgets rather than passing them on at inflated prices.

And don't get me started on restoration levies, additional booking fees or postage charges.

Yes! Because patronising the theatre isn't enough, apparently. 

Airlines do this with fuel surcharges!

Not surprising that they ask, but I get fed up with negotiating this extra step in the booking process for the NT, Hampstead, Royal Court, and so on.  It's the same if you ring and have to listen to the request on the recorded message.  If I had money to donate, I would give it to a smaller venue whose work has meant more to me personally and where there is more chance of seeing the money put to what I consider a good use (basic infrastructure first, rather than productions), but as a pensioner looking for the cheapest ticket which meets my requirements, my aim is to minimise cost, not add to it.

Oh YES I hate that, especially from the bigger revenue funded/subsidised venues-you people have more money than I do, I'm already spending my hard earned money/money I don't really have on tickets, no I will not give an extra £2.50 for the fun of it.

I wouldn't mind paying extra for ticket printing from the smaller companies, if it was to genuinely offset their costs. I do object to places like Ticketmaster charging me for the privledge of booking then expecting me to provide my own ticket!

Artisan ticket makers. All the hipsters will want one. 

What also annoys me is some places (not granted theatres mostly but the trainline for one, and some hotels for another) charge an additional booking fee on top of the booking fee for credit cards. I do get that there's an offset charge for that, but when you're that big a company I really feel like that's something you should be factoring in. Grr.