Dear Neil
It was with great excitement that we took the family along on Sunday to see Slava’s Snow Show at your theatre. We had bought the tickets the day before, quite expensive in this economic times, but it was a treat for the whole family.

We hadn’t been to Isaac theatre before, so the helpful ticket assistant allowed us to quickly look in the theatre on the ground floor, and said we would have a good view of the stage from the top gallery where the seats would be. Great we thought, lets book the tickets.

However what we experienced was a great view of the back of other people as they stood up, leaned forward or sat children on their knee, blocking the view of those sitting behind. Also some of the show was performed at the very front of the stage, with no chance of those up high seeing. I have heard that others have had the same experience.

I realise that as these were ‘cheaper’ tickets we wouldn’t have the best view of the stage – but no view! Had we been told that there was a chance our view would be obscured we would not have booked the tickets. On the whole we feel, well to put it bluntly, ripped off, it was an experience not worth the ticket price.

Kind regards
Wendy Riley-Biddle

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Hi Wendy,

First off, I’d like to thank you for your e-mail regarding your visit to the Isaac Theatre Royal recently. We are always keen to hear feedback from our visitors, good or bad, in order to ensure that we can provide the best experience possible for every one attending a show at our venue.

I sincerely apologise for the disappointing experience you had at the Slava’s Snow Show. The show itself has been nominated for the Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event and, whilst we are very proud to be associated with the show, I am saddened to hear that your view of the show was obscured for the majority of the event.

Our theatre is around 100 years old and so, unfortunately, I’m sure you’ll understand that in order to protect the theatre’s heritage, there is little we can do about the seating layout and arrangement. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it would appear to me that you are suggesting a way to avoid this issue in the future would be for us to improve the communication of this issue to prospective ticket purchasers. It also seems that our staff, while helpful, have suggested that you would have a good view of the stage from your position and this has turned out to be inaccurate.

I heartily agree with your suggestion and I will arrange a meeting with my staff to ensure that possible view restrictions are clearly communicated to all visitors purchasing a ticket in those seats. For our next show, I will ensure that the staff visit those seats mid-show so that they can get a better feel for any view restrictions in order to better communicate this to visitors.

If you have any other suggestions, please feel free to communicate those to me. As I mentioned, I appreciate feedback of any nature to ensure that a visit to our theatre is memorable for all the right reasons.

I hope that we will see you again at our theatre and, to help with this, I would love to offer you a free drink on me for you and each of your guests at your next visit. Please let me know when you are coming and I will ensure that my staff know your name.

Thank you again and all the best,
Yours etc

Now you might be thinking ‘what’s wrong with this reply?’.
After all he’s:

• thanked you for your feedback
• apologised sincerely
• sympathised and shown concern for your experience
• put in place a plan to address your concerns with his staff
• and offered you a free drink!

What more could anyone want? Answer: nothing – its a great response! But its not the one I got! (Thanks Mark, Hot PJ’s resident customer service expert,  for drafting this. A reply such as this would have settled the matter).

Here’s the actual reply I got….

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Dear Wendy,thanks for your letter but unfortunately your very late booking of tickets probably dictated where you would be seated as the season has almost sold out. Christchurch Arts Festival present the show, not the Isaac Theatre Royal, we are simply a ‘theatre for hire’ in this regard but have worked very closely with CAF to ensure we can present the show in its best possible form. It also sounds like the Ticketek staff here informed you properly,  and as you say it was your choice to opt for the cheaper tickets which based on current ticket prices for international shows were extremely well priced and accessible for all ages.

This show has been enormously successful and most of the downstairs seats were snapped up very quickly. The nature of the show lends itself to a lot of public participation and it is the same wherever it plays in the world, it adds to the festival atmosphere. We certainly were not going to adopt an approach of insisting patrons remain seated at all times, it is simple human behaviour to lean forward when there is action going on elsewhere in the theatre. Obviously though with the steepness of the Gallery, we opted with Slava Snowshow management for no balls and no webs to be passed out up there, and we stand by that as the correct decision.

Isaac Theatre Royal is a 100-year old Edwardian Theatre, we have certain restrictions as a result and this show is not a ballet or the opera, people get involved and get excited, we cannot contain that. I also don’t agree that sightlines are poor in the Gallery, in fact some of the sightlines there are better than the rear sections of the Stalls and our seats in the Circle had similar restrictions, it is the nature of the show, people stand up and as a result it is impossible to guarantee the same experience for everyone in the house.

It is a real shame you feel ripped off, that is not the intention for any of our presentations. We have had no other complaints of this nature to date for this season of Slava’s Snowshow and I hope your next experience here at ITR is of a similar one to the over 7000 people who would have seen the show come Wednesday night, the joy that this show is bringing to is clear to see on the patrons’ faces as they leave the Theatre each night.

Yours sincerely
Neil Cox
General Manager, Isaac Theatre Royal

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Dear Neil

Thanks for your response, however you have not addressed my concerns -  in fact your reply pretty much rubbished them.

It is a great shame that you don’t appear in your email to accept or recognise the benefit of feedback. Any business has the power to turn a bad experience around, in fact to turn a customer who will ‘walk’  and tell others of their bad experience, into one who becomes your product or company advocate, if they are given the opportunity, as you have been. It only requires a sympathetic ear and some show that you understand and appreciate the concerns of the person who has taken the trouble to complain.

I should also point out that just because you claim you have had no other complaints doesn’t mean there aren’t others out there unhappy with their experience. It just means you are not aware of them. I suggest that you take some time to experience what it is like for those seated where we were during a performance such as this before you disagree with their experience.

There will be no repeat experience at your theatre as neither I nor my family will risk disappointment again, in both attending the show, or having our concerns addressed.

I point out again that we were not told there will be sight restrictions and we were not told they were cheaper seats, we were only alerted to the latter when we left the theatre and spoke to someone on the door who said they were cheap seats. We were not informed of this when we booked the tickets.

Thank you again for your reply – you’ve given me a great example to share with others about how not to handle a customer complaint.

Wendy Riley-Biddle

>>>
Dear Wendy,
I apologise if I have got the wrong take on your ticket purchase procedure in your original letter but words like ‘ripped off’ and ‘experience not worth the ticket price’ for a world class show that thousands have enjoyed around the world didn’t really lend the complaint to one of beneficial or constructive feedback, hence my reply which I believe is fully explanatory and deals with the nature of your issues as effectively as we can within our constraints. If there was case for refund we would have considered it. Most times if we believe there are real concerns we’d invite patrons back at our cost. In this case though there isn’t a case for either.

We always deal with complaints as fairly and effectively as we can and the simple issue here is that at the time when you purchased your tickets, there simply were NO seats left in other sections of the Theatre which is why you were seated where you were. There was no alternative and you opted to purchase those seats even after being shown into the Theatre.

I have seated myself in every level, on all sides of the theatre and experienced every show I possibly can here at the ITR. I do know though that unfortunately, as much as we’d love to, we can’t please everyone all the time, its the nature of the business.

Yours sincerely
Neil Cox

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Dear Neil
So my concerns, as you put it, are neither ‘real’ nor ‘constructive or beneficial’. You have an interesting approach to managing customer relations.

“Politeness and civility are the best capital ever invested in business. Large stores, gilt signs, flaming advertisements, will all prove unavailing if you or your employees treat your patrons abruptly.”
(P.T. Barnum – arguably the best showman of all time)

And a small selection of feedback below received from others on this issue. You will see that the concerns I have raised with you are not mine alone.

• A couple of friends went on Friday night, had a similar story to tell…
• We were going to go but the tickets were so expensive!!!! and decided in the end to flag it.
• I know I’ll be complaining if I have any issues with seating/view like you guys did. Those tickets aren’t cheap!

As I have already said, ‘cheap’ seats or not, we were told there would be a good view of the stage from our seats. There was not!

I requested to see inside the theatre and we were shown into the ground floor, with no view of the gallery seating.

On the basis of the information provided we purchased the tickets. Had we been told that our view could be restricted in any way, and it seems clear from your emails that you know of this problem, we would not have bought these seats. We were therefore given inaccurate and misleading information.

It is clear that my concerns will not be dealt with sympathetically by you, so I will take them elsewhere.

Wendy Riley-Biddle

>>>

And I did! Professional blogger Ask Kal wrote a post about it, How to Win Customers and Piss People Off (a Tale of Customer Service) comparing her recent good experience with @BestBlooms when making a complaint, and mine. She and I also wrote about it in Twitter, FaceBook and of course this blog. Total audience somewhere in the thousands!

It doesn’t cost anything to treat a customer with respect and empathy, and the outcome can be one of increased business and loyal customers. To do the opposite can damage the business and its reputation, yet it is clear from the exchange above, some people, who should no better, just don’t!

Posted on July 31st, 2009 by Wendy Riley-Biddle
Filed under: General