Won tickets - not at box office when tried to collect - advice please?

crispcg

Just after some advice please as I have a very upset 8 year old today.

Had an email on Wednesday to say we had won 4 tickets for the Red Bull Soap Box Race today in London. Was asked what name the tickets should be placed under at the box office and told they could be collected today.

Travelled two hours to the event only to be told by the chap in the box office that he had nothing in our name!!! The event was sold out so didn't even have the option of buying tickets so had a very disappointed and upset 8 year old!!!

We are now back home and watching it on the TV.

Do I have any come back on the competition organisers? Obviously spent time and money travelling to the event without even considering the upset!

Thanks.

ness13

That sounds really upsetting, for you and your child.
I would email the people back, telling them what you've told us here about what happened and maybe asking, politely, if they can shed any light on why your tickets/name were not there and expressing the disappointment you both feel. It's worth a try to see what they say.

Enigmatic_Me

Blimey that is awful. I would send an email to the person who advised you of the win and just say what you said above which is very polite and to the point and ask for their comments.

Good luck and here's hoping for a better win very soon for you.

paadzer

Contact them. Explain what happened first but don't put it in an aggressive tone but in an upset tone and emphasise on how upset the 8 year old was, how much time you spent travelling and that you paid towards fuel or public transport and spent a lot of time travelling on a very hot day. Don't mention compensation in your message and wait and see if they offer you anything in their response and if they don't then ask them in your next e-mail.

If e-mailing perhaps you could look online for the most senior member of staff and copy them into the e-mail to ensure the member of staff who didn't do their job properly gets a telling off.

crispcg

Thanks. Will certainly email them tomorrow and take your advice.

yoeydavis

oh, so sorry this happened. i agree withvthe above comments and i wish you luck. please let us know the outcome

surfboard2

Oh no - sorry to hear this happened to you.

I always worry when it comes to collecting tickets at the box office and although i've won lots of theatre tickets and have been able to collect them, there was one time when no tickets were left at the box office.

Thankfully, i was able to see the show - i think the theatre thought i was pulling a fast one until another winner came. But, it worked out alright in the end! But still, it's embarrassing and frustrating!

Do get in touch with the organisers and explain everything. Keep us updated!

boris3428

Sorry to hear that. The same thing happened to me too.

I emailed the company the following day and heard nothing back, which was very strange as the lady has been so helpful before hand! I sent an email a week for the next couple of weeks, and then when I still hadn't heard back, I cc'd in other people at the company (whose email addresses I got from the internet). I was always polite, but by that stage I must admit I was pretty angry. All I wanted really was an apology!

One of the other people I emailed replied (I never ever heard back from the lady I was in touch with initially) and apologised. She also offered to send a selection of beauty products by way of an apology. They duly did - and it was amazing - a massive bag of perfumes and so on.

I thought that was the end of it - but a few months later, they emailed to say that they hadn't been able to find a suitable event to arrange tickets for (in place of the one I missed) so they were sending me £120 of Seeticket vouchers!!

So - my advise would be - be polite in all your responses, but persevere. At the very least you deserve an apology.

Good luck.

angiesandhu

That's awful. I always worry that there will be nothing in my name when I go to collect at the box office. Can't imagine how upset you and your child must have been.

I need to collect tickets tonight-I will be worried now!

I hope you get an apology xx

Marg2k8

A similar thing happened to me once. DH and I travelled about 40 miles to a venue to see a concert, which DD had won tickets for. There was a mix up and we could not get in. Fortunately, we did not have an upset 8 year old with us. DD was however upset that we had wasted our time and money on something she thought she was giving to us as a treat. We emailed the next day and received some merchandise by way of apology.

crispcg

Just thought I'd provide an update as I did get an email apology and an assurance that they "would make things right" for my 8 year old son. They asked for my address so it was looking like he was going to get something to make up for his upset.

On Friday we received a pack of red bull cans!! On the cans it quite clearly states not suitable for children so no idea how the PR company would think this would impress an 8 year old :wall: