Royal Opera House, incompetent to book tickets?

[head-case]

I recently tried to book a pair of tickets at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden for an upcoming trip to London.  Twice the web site told me my credit card was declined, but when I contacted my credit card customer service department, they told me that my card was never declined and that the Royal Opera had succeeded in charging my card twice.  So, it appears they have charged me twice for the same pair of tickets, have issued no tickets to me, and are happily continuing to sell the seats I was trying to book on their web site.

So, the question seems to be, is this level of incompetence unique to the Royal Opera House, or is it a property of England in general?

[caulfield]

[Choo Choo]

I recently tried to book a pair of tickets at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden for an upcoming trip to London.

How recently is "recently"?  They just introduced a new "improved" on-line booking service - and by "just" I mean, the last few days - and before that, for a period, there was more or less no on-line booking to speak of - and before that, you had the old "counter-intuitive" booking system, where you had to open about 12 sessions in parallel and let it allocate you half the seats in the house before finally it might get around to giving you the ones you wanted (which were available the whole time, they just wouldn't give them to you - "oh, you wanted those??".)

I haven't tried the new "improved" system yet myself.  You can probably tell, I am really looking forward to the experience.

They are incredibly helpful if you phone them though.  If you preface your wants with the statement "I've just been on your website..." they'll know what you mean and will be sympathetic.

[head-case]

How recently is "recently"?  They just introduced a new "improved" on-line booking service - and by "just" I mean, the last few days - and before that, for a period, there was more or less no on-line booking to speak of - and before that, you had the old "counter-intuitive" booking system, where you had to open about 12 sessions in parallel and let it allocate you half the seats in the house before finally it might get around to giving you the ones you wanted (which were available the whole time, they just wouldn't give them to you - "oh, you wanted those??".)

I haven't tried the new "improved" system yet myself.  You can probably tell, I am really looking forward to the experience.

They are incredibly helpful if you phone them though.  If you preface your wants with the statement "I've just been on your website..." they'll know what you mean and will be sympathetic.

How recently is today (or yesterday, depending on your time zone).   I assume I will have to phone to the UK to get this straightened out ,  but getting in to work late because I have to make transcontinental phone calls resolve a credit card charge is not my idea of an efficient transaction.  Maybe I should just do what my credit card representative suggested, and file a credit card fraud complaint against them.  Next time I will be satisfied to attend the Metropolitan Opera, where they can book a ticket and charge one third the price.

[Siedler]

before that, you had the old "counter-intuitive" booking system, where you had to open about 12 sessions in parallel and let it allocate you half the seats in the house before finally it might get around to giving you the ones you wanted (which were available the whole time, they just wouldn't give them to you - "oh, you wanted those??".)

Sounds just like Ticketmaster! 

[Hector]

This is why the ROH needs no public subsidy.

Thank you for supporting my local opera house!

[head-case]

Just to update, I spoke to someone in the box office of the Royal Opera House and they claim they have no record of any transaction with me.  I spoke to my credit card company again and they confirm that the tickets were charged twice but that I can't do anything about it until the charges are officially "posted" to my account, which normally takes 48 hours.  This means I can't request an investigation of the Royal Opera House for credit card fraud until then. 

And Hector, I assure you I am not supporting your local Opera House/Organized Crime Syndicate, since I will  make sure that not one thin dime of my money goes to the ROH, and if I live to be one thousand years old I will never attend the Royal Opera, or pay a nickle for any audio or video recording made there.

[Hector]

Just to update, I spoke to someone in the box office of the Royal Opera House and they claim they have no record of any transaction with me.  I spoke to my credit card company again and they confirm that the tickets were charged twice but that I can't do anything about it until the charges are officially "posted" to my account, which normally takes 48 hours.  This means I can't request an investigation of the Royal Opera House for credit card fraud until then. 

And Hector, I assure you I am not supporting your local Opera House/Organized Crime Syndicate, since I will  make sure that not one thin dime of my money goes to the ROH, and if I live to be one thousand years old I will never attend the Royal Opera, or pay a nickle for any audio or video recording made there.

Bar steward.

You just don't know what you're missing.

Except your money, of course.

[head-case]

Bar steward.

You just don't know what you're missing.

Except your money, of course.

There are other opera houses in the world, and the best seat in the house is one third the price at the Metropolitan Opera in New York (even before taking into account the probability that the ROH will charge you multiple times for your ticket).

[Don Giovanni]

I love the ROH and I've never had any trouble with booking. I'm very sorry to hear about your problem,head-case.

[head-case]

Well, after repeated inquiries with my credit card company it appears I can avoid the spurrious charges, and I must confess I relented and booked the tickets by phone. 

[knight66]

Headcase, I think you are very wise, avoid England.......please.

Mike