Is it worth complaining?

andyrules

Unless you are very familiar with the venue I'm not sure how knowing seat numbers would help unless there is a numbered seating plan online (and that assumes everyone has access to it)

Even if you booked last minute you should be warned about the restrictions., but agree it seems worse that you were led to think you have first call. And yes, I've always been informed about restrictions from theatre/agent.

Not good enough - complain.

cvw55

stern email sent! will wait for a response next week and let you know. thanks for all advice. Im not a complainer but genuinely feel conned and feel better that I'm trying to do something about it!

Crazy_Jamie

cvw55 wrote: »

the block/seat numbers were on the tickets but i didnt think for a second they'd be up in the gods. we were literally the back row, no one behind us! and the view was awful, still cant get over it!

But did you know you had those seats at the time of booking? Because if you did I am going to have to disagree with everyone else and say that you cannot complain about the quality of the seats if you knew what those seats were in advance. The reason is simple; it is as easy as typing 'NEC Arena Seating Plan' into Google images to find out where your seats are. Anyone who has ever been to a concert in a large venue before knows that most of the seats are not very good and offer a poor view, and it is therefore common sense to check these things before you book. So I most certainly don't think you have any cause to complain about her being 'a dot in the distance'. You should have checked which seats you were getting. It is as simple as that.

You may have slightly more cause for concern about the rigging, though I expect that this may be a scoreboard or similar that is used during sporting events? I am going off my knowledge of other concert venues (I have never been to the NEC), but if this is the case then again I think your grounds for complaining are shaky. If not and it was something different then again you may have more solid grounds.

cvw55 wrote:

if i had of booked last minute when it was nearly sold out, then i'd accept that they would be the kind of seats you get at last minute, but the fact that this was supposed to be a priority booking before the tickets went on sale is what really gets my goat!

This priority booking system interests me, because you sound like you were surprised to get it. Which begs the question; what exactly did you think you did to deserve this priority booking? It sounds to me like little more than you being informed of tickets going on sale because you had previously been to that venue to see that artist. It's a fairly big assumption that you would be handed good seats for no apparent reason. But either way as I stated above, checking where your seats are is simple common sense when going to a concert. If my assumption above is wrong and you weren't told what seats you were getting prior to booking, then that would again raise huge alarm bells for me. I would never buy tickets for a concert without knowing where those seats are. Think about it; why would any 'priority booking system' worth its salt not tell its 'valued customers' what seats they were getting? It sounds to me like there were warnings signs all over this either way that you just didn't take heed of.

andyrules wrote:

Unless you are very familiar with the venue I'm not sure how knowing seat numbers would help unless there is a numbered seating plan online (and that assumes everyone has access to it)

As I said above, in this day and age it is exceptionally easy to check the seating a plan of any given venue online to see where your seats are, and making such checks is common sense. You don't need an intimate experience of a venue as large as the NEC to know that a seat near the back of the rear block is not going to offer the best view in the world.

RadoJo

Don't get me wrong - I don't think the OP has cause to complain about the distance the seats were from the stage as, as you've said, every major venue has a seating plan available, and having just checked the NEC's one, it's fairly clear where each block of seats is. You can even go on their website and take a virtual tour which shows exactly how the seating is laid out.
However, if their view was further restricted by a part of the permanent structure of the building which isn't shown on their plans, that should be made clear when purchasing tickets - usually seats with restricted views are cheaper than the full price for that block, so if the OP paid full price for seats which the venue knew were going to have a significantly reduced view of the stage compared to other seats of the same price, it's a little unfair and certainly worth at least lodging a complaint in the hope that they consider making this clearer on their plans in future.

Crazy_Jamie

RadoJo wrote: »

However, if their view was further restricted by a part of the permanent structure of the building which isn't shown on their plans, that should be made clear when purchasing tickets - usually seats with restricted views are cheaper than the full price for that block, so if the OP paid full price for seats which the venue knew were going to have a significantly reduced view of the stage compared to other seats of the same price, it's a little unfair and certainly worth at least lodging a complaint in the hope that they consider making this clearer on their plans in future.

I show hesitation on that point simply because I am unsure of what this 'rigging' was and exactly how it restricted the OP's view. There is little doubt that the seats that the OP describes are among the worst in the venue irrespective, so I am wondering what real difference any obstructions made. That said I do agree with the general principle that restricted view seats should be stated as such at the time of booking. I wonder if there is any chance that the warnings were there but were missed by the OP as it sounds like the booking of these tickets was a pretty excitable and rushed process, but this is just pure speculation on my part.

andyrules

Whenever I go to the theatre, I look on the theatremonkey first, but generally buy direct from the venue and I have ALWAYS been warned of a restriction, giving me the option to avoid those. Most theatre websites show this clearly and when you have the whole pricing structure you can work it out.

My understanding of the NEC (and indeed, according to their website) is that the seating changes with each event, so it is difficult to see which category your seat is in. Yes, it may well be possible to know that you are close or far away from the stage from the ticket, but clearly the restriction was not revealed. From what the OP says, price was not an indicator in this case.

They should have been told, simple. If they missed it in the original communication, then that is different - I would be checking that.

cvw55

Crazy_Jamie wrote: »

But did you know you had those seats at the time of booking? Because if you did I am going to have to disagree with everyone else and say that you cannot complain about the quality of the seats if you knew what those seats were in advance. The reason is simple; it is as easy as typing 'NEC Arena Seating Plan' into Google images to find out where your seats are. Anyone who has ever been to a concert in a large venue before knows that most of the seats are not very good and offer a poor view, and it is therefore common sense to check these things before you book. So I most certainly don't think you have any cause to complain about her being 'a dot in the distance'. You should have checked which seats you were getting. It is as simple as that.

This priority booking system interests me, because you sound like you were surprised to get it. Which begs the question; what exactly did you think you did to deserve this priority booking? It sounds to me like little more than you being informed of tickets going on sale because you had previously been to that venue to see that artist. It's a fairly big assumption that you would be handed good seats for no apparent reason. But either way as I stated above, checking where your seats are is simple common sense when going to a concert. If my assumption above is wrong and you weren't told what seats you were getting prior to booking, then that would again raise huge alarm bells for me. I would never buy tickets for a concert without knowing where those seats are. Think about it; why would any 'priority booking system' worth its salt not tell its 'valued customers' what seats they were getting? It sounds to me like there were warnings signs all over this either way that you just didn't take heed of.
As I said above, in this day and age it is exceptionally easy to check the seating a plan of any given venue online to see where your seats are, and making such checks is common sense. You don't need an intimate experience of a venue as large as the NEC to know that a seat near the back of the rear block is not going to offer the best view in the world.

As I said, I knew the seats were in block 6. I did see a seating plan at the time of booking, but it must have been completely inaccurate. I did not realise the seats were back row. However, this wouldnt really have been a problem if it wasnt for the bar that ran across the ceiling and completely blocked a large proporation of the stage and the two large screens, which are there so people towards the back can see more of whats happening on stage. I still maintain there should have been some warning at the time of booking that we'd have a restricted view. I cant believe they charge people to sit in those seats.

I certainly didnt assume I'd be 'handed good seats for no apparent reason'. the priority booking link was a little incentive for people who had attended the first show, which I used when they went on sale of 9am on the Wednesday morning. the general sale didnt start till Friday.

What I'm really after is some feedback from the venue about the lack of information about restricted views, etc and what the point of the priority booking email was. perhaps just a con, wasnt prioty anything?? In which case, lesson learnt.

Crazy_Jamie

What I'm really after is some feedback from the venue about the lack of information about restricted views, etc and what the point of the priority booking email was. perhaps just a con, wasnt prioty anything?? In which case, lesson learnt.

Seen as you have mentioned that you were in Block 6, I'm now interested in what the nature of this obstruction was. Every NEC Arena Plan I can see puts Block 6 on the far left side (click), so what was this obstruction? I have not been to the NEC before, but it is the same size as the MEN (which I got to regularly), and from my experience with that venue I would be surprised if my scoreboard suggestion from earlier is accurate. The angel doesn't seem right. So was this obstruction rigging for the lighting, or actually part of the construction of the building? I would be surprised if it was the latter, and would also be surprised if technical rigging was erected that blocked the views from seats.

cvw55

Crazy_Jamie wrote: »

Seen as you have mentioned that you were in Block 6, I'm now interested in what the nature of this obstruction was. Every NEC Arena Plan I can see puts Block 6 on the far left side (url=http://maps.seatics.com/lg_arena_birmingham_tn.gif]click[/url]), so what was this obstruction? I have not been to the NEC before, but it is the same size as the MEN (which I got to regularly), and from my experience with that venue I would be surprised if my scoreboard suggestion from earlier is accurate. The angel doesn't seem right. So was this obstruction rigging for the lighting, or actually part of the construction of the building? I would be surprised if it was the latter, and would also be surprised if technical rigging was erected that blocked the views from seats.

block 6 is right handside - and i'm pretty sure it was part of the building structure. too far back to be lighting i think.

Straight-Up

I saw her last night from the nosebleeds in Manchester, and the venue is about 7000 people bigger than the NEC, and my view was absolutely fine. Nothing to complain about there, somebody has to sit in them seats and afterall, you booked them.

However, with regards to the structural problems, if your tickets didn't say "Restricted View" on them, then by all means put a complaint in!