Delfont Mackintosh Theatres — Attraction in London

Tried to book over the counter because there was a technical glitch on their website that deducted (pending but ultimately reversed) from my account but said transaction was denied. The woman over the counter first booked a ticket for a past show (not sure how their system even allowed it), and only realised it after her colleague pointed it out. When she did find the show for the right date, the money was already deducted from my card, she told me that for the same price, the only seats available are the ones at the extreme right. I asked if they were obstructed but she confidently claimed that it was absolutely clear, no obstruction. Something didn't feel right so I asked for some time to consider and wanted to look up the seats online to check. During that time she repeated, "So do you want the seats?", "Hello, can you hear me?", "Unless you want to pay more, these are the only seats available". I responded the first few times with something like, "Hold on, I'm considering". Halfway through she may have realized I wasn't buying her lie and she then admitted, "It's partially obstructed". Ultimately with that, her constant pestering and seemingly condescending tone, I decided to not take up those seats. I asked for a refund, which she then asked me to tap my card on the reader. I asked for a receipt of the refund or a note indicating so, and she just replied, "No", "We cannot do that". Thankfully the refund did come in a few days later, back in my home country. Not a pleasant...

Do NOT resell your tickets through the box office, I fully understand they can only resell tickets once the show is sold out but there is a concerneing element of trust here. 48 hours before the show there were 8 tickets left for King Lear, pretty much a sold out show as the whole run has been. I had 4 prime tickets for Saturday night. I would think prime seats for a prime show on a Saturday night stood a good chance of selling, but nothing is certain.

Sunday morning I am told that my tickets did not resell however some friends that were in the audience that night that I asked them to keep an eye out said that the seats were occupied. When I mentioned this to the Box Office I was told that they did not sell however some patrons may have moved to those seats if unoccupied and thart was beyond their control - I agree, I have seen that before, but not before curtain up at the start, seems like whoever was sitting there either had tickets to sit there or felt confident the holders were not going to arrive.

Either way selling through the Delfont Mackintosh group is not senisble, as their terms state, you have no control whatsoever on the resale and you have to trust them. It is much better to resell through Twickets, a fan to fan site that you can controls the pricing, cannot sell above face value for and at least have confidence over the process.

You live and learn but its been an...

I’ve always booked my tickets directly with Delfont Mackintosh Theatres via their website, and have never had any problems until day.

I’ve booked to see a play for tonight, but I woke up feeling really unwell. I went into work but was sent home, so thought it best if I try and reschedule my theatre ticket.

On the website it says you can only exchange tickets online 48hrs prior to the show, so to call their Customer Service number instead - which I did, only to be told they don’t do exchanges on the day of the performance.

I reiterated that I’m not feeling well, and asked if he recommends that I still attend the show tonight, despite the fact that I am ill and likely to pass whatever illness I have on to other customers. He replied, “Yeah, well, we don’t do exchanges on the day”. I thanked him for his wonderful customer service and hung up.

Appalling response and behaviour from a multimillion pound company who obviously don’t give a flying squirrel about the welfare of their customers. If I had the ability to see the future and had known two days ago I would be unwell and unfit to attend, I would have most certainly exchanged my ticket. But I’m not Mystic Meg and therefore I do not possess that ability.

But here’s what I do know - I will save myself a fortune in the future as this will be the last Delfont Mackintosh Theatres...