Victoria Art Gallery — Attraction in Metropolitan Borough of Solihull

Rude. Dismissive. Possibly sexist. And definitely actively incompetent. Worst gallery ever (probably).

I took time off work to go all the way to Bath to support a friend who got into a show. Booked the 7:30-8:30 time slot for the private view, only to be told at the door that the hour time slot was in fact a half hour time slot for entry and doors closed at 8pm (we arrived at 8:06)

Was mansplained that this was definitely the case because some guy said so, and that it was “clearly labelled on the ticket AND website” and then when I asked where (showing them my ticket and the booking page) so I wouldn’t make the mistake again (that cost me pay and fuel, and meant I had to wait for 30mins in the cold and rain for my friends) they couldn’t find anything. But also still wouldn’t let me in.

After 15mins of them telling me I was absolutely correct but couldn’t come in anyway, while my friends stood there on the other side of the hall - the man who was making this decision (no longer the security guard who agreed with me) who may or may not have worked for/with the museum (seemed to just be some random guy), told me “he’d fix it for next time” but still wouldn’t let me in.

I laughed and told him there would not be a next time. That I wouldn’t be coming back again, or applying as an artist to anything associated with such a bad museum again, to which he responded that his museum was great and that that was “my decision” and that “there’s nothing wrong with his museum” whilst walking off.

I said “I wouldn’t know because he wouldn’t let me in to see it.

He turned back to reply, but I left to go do something better with my friends. Would not recommend.

Wait time 1+ hrs: Still waiting… Do you recommend buying tickets in advance: No, their admission times mean nothing anyway. Save time and petrol, don’t bother going at all! :)

(Photos of email confirmation and attached ticket to show that no where does it mention an 8pm cap to admission and tickets were sold in 1hr blocks. Also the only two reference I could find for the event times online and that was after...

Me and my partner went specifically to Bath for this art gallery, however we were highly disappointed. First of all the price, £20 for me and my partner, highly overpriced for what you get. On top of this, the upstairs was shut which they failed to mention, this making the price even worse. We spoke to several members of staff but they did not mention once about the upstairs part being shut off despite the fact they knew we were there for the exhibition. As we had not been before, we did not know the way around so followed what the woman told us which was straight on, therefore we did not see the steps to understand it was closed. This exhibition was very small for what we were expecting so we only spend around 10 minutes here and therefore a...

I have been a frequent visitor during my 25 years residency in Bath, but have always found the gallery a little disappointing, and not really befitting Bath's cultural status. It's rather small, the temporary exhibitions change infrequently, and it closes for much too long for exhibition preparation (normally a week to re-hang the paintings in its one large gallery). However, now that it has introduced charges, even for residents like me who have paid tens of thousands in local taxes, I will not be visiting again until this policy is reviewed. Because of this, it gets just two stars. Without the charges, it would have three.

EDIT: They have now rescinded the policy of charging residents for entry, so it has been upgraded to...