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Post by realmissbarnaby on Mar 27, 2020 9:54:19 GMT
Me again....nightmare all this. We are encouraging people to book from late June. The call center is still selling lots of tickets every day for summer and the pantos are selling very well-thank goodness. If anyone calls to book for performances between April 28th and early June we try and convince them to wait-which everyone does. Refunds are being offered-just put in the form that you want a refund and the call center will get in touch. There are incentives being offered too. Like other theatres. The producers need as much of the money as possible to stay in the shows-especially for the Summer shows. Loads of people being made redundant and lots of us on reduced pay-but at least we still have a job-for now. Please be kind and stay safe. God bless.
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Post by MrBraithwaite on Mar 27, 2020 10:03:42 GMT
Got another email yesterday about my credit vouchers and now all three shows have been processed and the vouchers show up in my account. Have more shows booked with ATG for June, doubt that will happen or those shows may get cancelled anyway.
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Post by jcs619 on Mar 27, 2020 10:05:58 GMT
Me again....nightmare all this. We are encouraging people to book from late June. The call center is still selling lots of tickets every day for summer and the pantos are selling very well-thank goodness. If anyone calls to book for performances between April 28th and early June we try and convince them to wait-which everyone does. Refunds are being offered-just put in the form that you want a refund and the call center will get in touch. There are incentives being offered too. Like other theatres. The producers need as much of the money as possible to stay in the shows-especially for the Summer shows. Loads of people being made redundant and lots of us on reduced pay-but at least we still have a job-for now. Please be kind and stay safe. God bless. Whilst I fully understand and appreciate what you are saying as much as I love theatre I love having a roof over my head and being able to put food on my familys’ table more. I need, at this time, a refund of the £167.15 I paid for Back to the Future, the £190 I paid for Pretty Woman and more than likely the £99.50 I paid for SITPWG. Whilst Nimax did the morally right thing and sent an email with a link to click on for either an exchange or refund ATG are doing their utmost to hang onto people’s money as long as possible. If the choice is to leave the money with the millionaire producer or give it back to the financially struggling theatregoer I know which camp I’m in.
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Post by talkingheads on Mar 27, 2020 10:06:09 GMT
I just don't understand why it would be so difficult to halt sales until June, especially now the National have closed until the end of June. More work in the short term but in the long term saves people booking then having to rebook.
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3,582 posts
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Post by Rory on Mar 27, 2020 10:34:26 GMT
Yes, let's be realistic, it's highly unlikely there will be a resumption on 27th April.
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Post by jess173 on Mar 27, 2020 10:46:18 GMT
I just logged into my ATG account to check for any updates. When I checked my recent orders it only shows my order for A Dolls House in July. Both my orders for Cyrano (which is weird but doesn’t really matter anymore) and The Seagull are gone. I checked my email and I’ve still got the confirmation email for The Seagull with my order number. The ticket would have been for the 9.4. So what’s up with that? Why is that order gone from my account? I haven’t heard anything from ATG since the general email about cancellation they sent out some time ago. Should I contact them or just wait? It really bugs me that this order is gone from my account. The ticket wasn't cheap... :/
ETA: Seems like my order for Good in September is gone too. Is the site glitching? Or should I be worried?
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19,797 posts
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Mar 27, 2020 11:10:30 GMT
It really shows up ATG’s technology doesn’t it. From the fact that they can’t get their offer emails many many members for some unexplained reason, to the booking website that doesn’t show you the complete list of ticket price options, to the inability to browse different dates for tickets, to a web form that rejects your request if you put more than one order number in the box, to the mystery of the disappearing orders from your account. It’s all pretty unimpressive.
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Post by xanady on Mar 27, 2020 11:16:03 GMT
^The key point in the above is surely that people should have a variety of choice on refunds.The choices need to be made crystal clear to ticket-buyers.Producers,agencies etc need to remember that punters will have long memories if they feel or perceive that they are being hood-winked in any way.Mike Ashley’s profuse apologies this morning suggest that he knows that his empire may have already hit a Ratners moment(younger posters will have to look up this reference).My local pharmacy that is charging £10 for a standard box of paracetamol and then blaming suppliers when exposed will never ever get my custom again as it simply profiteering. Respect to realmissbarnaby for giving a candid,honest and sensitive view ‘from the inside’... best wishes to all those like yourself who are trying to cope with this economic tsunami...depressingly as well as the horrific impact of the virus on mortality rates,I fear that the indoor entertainment field is going to have a very traumatic twelve months at the very least.🙁
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Post by longinthetooth on Mar 27, 2020 11:20:50 GMT
I've just logged into my ATG account too. Recent Orders only shows Pretty Woman, but then I clicked on Upcoming Events and the rest of my orders for later shows were in there.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2020 11:37:14 GMT
It really shows up ATG’s technology doesn’t it. From the fact that they can’t get their offer emails many many members for some unexplained reason, to the booking website that doesn’t show you the complete list of ticket price options, to the inability to browse different dates for tickets, to a web form that rejects your request if you put more than one order number in the box, to the mystery of the disappearing orders from your account. It’s all pretty unimpressive. 100% agree. Their technology is terrible and their response to this (at company level; I do of course appreciate the hard work the guys on the ground are doing) has been the worst, by a mile, of all the companies I had bookings with. Their lack of transparency re consumer's rights is also very frustrating and hardly makes you want to do them any favours. Lovely e-mails from Hope Mill and Royal Exchange, both of which I have donated to.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2020 11:40:30 GMT
Got another email yesterday about my credit vouchers and now all three shows have been processed and the vouchers show up in my account. Have more shows booked with ATG for June, doubt that will happen or those shows may get cancelled anyway. Interesting - I am now in a situation where I have requested 4 refunds. I have recieved an e-mail for a voucher for 1 show. Logged on to my account today and the other 3 are also showing as vouchers. But you cannot use the vouchers unless you have had the corresponding e-mail which gives the redemption code (which for 3 of them I don't!) And I was after refunds anyway. Confused yet?! Shambles! What's annoying is that they have clearly got to all 4 bookings but then processed them all completely incorrectly!
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170 posts
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Post by jess173 on Mar 27, 2020 13:52:38 GMT
I've just logged into my ATG account too. Recent Orders only shows Pretty Woman, but then I clicked on Upcoming Events and the rest of my orders for later shows were in there. The Upcoming Events page only shows A Dolls House for me, just like the Recent Orders page... Seems like I’ve got a voucher with a number but I need a redemption code for it which might be the same thing Dom described. I don’t want a voucher either. I would rather have a full refund. This is all very weird.
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19,797 posts
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Mar 27, 2020 13:54:29 GMT
Has anyone actually secured a refund yet?,
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Post by mhumphries on Mar 27, 2020 14:34:39 GMT
Want to put this into context:
BFI - Refund Delfont Mackintosh - Refund Travelogue - Refund Trainline - Refund ATG - Not one email after almost two weeks since the show was cancelled.
Says it all really. I will go so far as to say, if a company won’t/can’t offer a refund, it’s more then likely the money has been spent.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2020 14:35:44 GMT
In a further twist of events I had Six (March), Jamie (April) and Heathers (May) in Brighton all booked on same reference.
One of my vouchers that has appeared online (without a corresponding e-mailed redemption code) is for the full amount for all three. Even though (as far as I am aware) Heathers has not been cancelled yet.
Bonkers!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2020 15:36:15 GMT
I still haven't heard from ATG about a performance that should have already happened. I understand the need for patience, but it is a bit jarring to find out that ATG staff are spending their time doing bookings when the company hasn't even got round to dealing with refunds for dates that have already passed!
I have no idea if I am going to be able to re-book for another date as ATG haven't even bothered to send me an email. Compared to how almost every other company has dealt with this it is really poor.
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Post by realmissbarnaby on Mar 27, 2020 15:39:33 GMT
Me again. I can assure you anyone who asks for a refund is given one. ATG have 4 times as many venues as all the other venue owners and 5 times as many bookers as all of them combined as we have shows around the country booked ahead for months-in fact until April 2021. I am not excusing how slow we are being but i promise, i have personally processed more than 50 refunds today as well as a hundred or so vouchers and extended memberships etc. We haven’t even started next weeks bookers yet. We are only up to tomorrow. I am even dealing with German customers via a google translate. And more than half the staff have all been put in furlough. I know it sounds like a lame excuse and i am so so sorry for your frustration but I absolutely promise we are getting through tens of thousands of customers and dealing with thousands and thousands of exchanges and refunds. We have more than 5o theatres globally and as you all know our systems are slow but please i promise we are dealing with customers every day and every night its just the scale of our bookings is so much more than anyone else. Not good enough I agree but please dont hurt us anymore. We will get to you. Promise. I wish it was all automated. A lot of it is. But not all. That’s why we have made mistakes with emails etc. But we are getting through it. Be kind. God bless.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2020 17:18:06 GMT
Want to put this into context: BFI - Refund Delfont Mackintosh - Refund Travelogue - Refund Trainline - Refund ATG - Not one email after almost two weeks since the show was cancelled. Says it all really. I will go so far as to say, if a company won’t/can’t offer a refund, it’s more then likely the money has been spent. This! Literally everyone else has managed it.....
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19,797 posts
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Mar 27, 2020 17:41:36 GMT
Me again. I can assure you anyone who asks for a refund is given one. ATG have 4 times as many venues as all the other venue owners and 5 times as many bookers as all of them combined as we have shows around the country booked ahead for months-in fact until April 2021. I am not excusing how slow we are being but i promise, i have personally processed more than 50 refunds today as well as a hundred or so vouchers and extended memberships etc. We haven’t even started next weeks bookers yet. We are only up to tomorrow. I am even dealing with German customers via a google translate. And more than half the staff have all been put in furlough. I know it sounds like a lame excuse and i am so so sorry for your frustration but I absolutely promise we are getting through tens of thousands of customers and dealing with thousands and thousands of exchanges and refunds. We have more than 5o theatres globally and as you all know our systems are slow but please i promise we are dealing with customers every day and every night its just the scale of our bookings is so much more than anyone else. Not good enough I agree but please dont hurt us anymore. We will get to you. Promise. I wish it was all automated. A lot of it is. But not all. That’s why we have made mistakes with emails etc. But we are getting through it. Be kind. God bless. realmissbarnaby it feels like you’re taking this very personally. Please don’t, our frustration is with the company and it’s systems, not you or any of the employees who are no doubt following the direction of your seniors.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2020 22:48:44 GMT
lWe haven’t even started next weeks bookers yet. We are only up to tomorrow. That worries me as my booking was for Wednesday just past and I haven't heard a thing from ATG! Very grateful for all you and your colleagues are doing despite the disorganization, just getting increasingly concerned my booking has slipped through the net. But it is the fault of your bosses for unnecessarily laying off workers and not investing in sufficient systems, nothing else. I was deliberately not contacting ATG given the scale of the refund task, but perhaps now I will have to eventually if I can find a senior management address!
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Post by FrontrowverPaul on Mar 27, 2020 23:26:51 GMT
lWe haven’t even started next weeks bookers yet. We are only up to tomorrow. That worries me as my booking was for Wednesday just past and I haven't heard a thing from ATG! Very grateful for all you and your colleagues are doing despite the disorganization, just getting increasingly concerned my booking has slipped through the net. But it is the fault of your bosses for unnecessarily laying off workers and not investing in sufficient systems, nothing else. I was deliberately not contacting ATG given the scale of the refund task, but perhaps now I will have to eventually if I can find a senior management address! Same here, only had the general message and I had cancelled ATG shows booked on Wed 18 March, Monday 23 March and Wednesday 25 March. All paid via Paypal and none have been refunded yet. To be honest I find it hard to be concerned about it as things are and won't be contacting anyone about any theatre matters except in reply to messages I may receive.
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Post by theatrefan77 on Mar 28, 2020 11:03:46 GMT
ATG's technology must be truly awful judging by their response to the cancellations. I have no doubt that their employees are doing their best, but it's obvious that someone at the top is doing a terrible job. My booking is well in the past and they are not replying my emails, and I returned their form ages ago.
All my bookings from other sources have been sorted or at least acknowledged, with confirmations that they will be exchanged or refunded. ATG have not even acknowledged my booking with them.
Overall, ATG are doing an abysmal job which is very frustrating and unfair.
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Post by viserys on Mar 28, 2020 11:50:51 GMT
I have finally received a mail from ATG for my booking for next Friday (3 April) - but also only a voucher. I don't see any option to even ask for a refund. As it's my only booking with them, I can just leave it at that, but it's not customer-friendly to not even give you a hint how to go about demanding a refund.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2020 12:30:56 GMT
The ATG situation is a tricky one.
I do agree with posters above that we are in a national crisis, our money is (ultimately) safe and that patience is required.
Playing devil's advocate though, I think there are specific grievances with ATG as patrons have had years of poor customer service (particularly relating to IT systems) and if one could have predicted who would struggle the most in a situation like this, most people would say ATG.
Yes they are big, but that should not equate to poor customer service. If you are a company selling 100 tickets a day, you might have 1 customer service agent. 200 = 2, 1000 = 10. Etc etc. It should be scaled relative to the company. Unless you have always been trying to get by on the minimum possible.
Further, over the years, profit and the image of a hard nosed corporate is what comes across. Their regional theatres with increasingly vulgar overpriced kiosks everywhere, the dire Ordertorium service encouraging the audience to spend spend spend and become paralytic and their being behind the curve in looking after their buildings doesn't go unnoticed.
I guess what I am saying is that although I agree we should be sympathetic to everyone now due to these unprecedented times, I think perhaps people find it harder when ATG put on a suboptimal response due to the nature of previous interactions with the company.
And not stating on their communications that people are getting that refunds are an option is just plain wrong morally.
Anyway, there we are. I do agree with those who say we must learn patience. Society, myself absolutely included, find that hard as we have become increasingly used to now now now. But maybe if any good comes of the current situation is that maybe we will learn to take a breath and wait for situations to unfold. I'm not great at that, but I'll try :-)
And it goes without saying that I think we are all grateful for the efforts the guys on the ground at ATG (and everywhere!) are currently making.
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Post by theatrefan77 on Mar 28, 2020 12:35:27 GMT
viserys At least you've received an email from ATG. My booking was for March 24th and they still haven't contacted me. I"m not impressed with their customer service
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