Forced ticket purchase

jobe1972

Hi this is a odd one so please bear with me.. My child goes to a dance theatre as part of that group she does performances as she has one upcoming we paid for to do this not a problem with that the issue has arose because they want us to buy a minimum of 3 tickets for the performance at £57 each we have bought one as we need one but is no use having a further 2.. this was told verbally when we bought one.
Months pass and we receive a email stating "As stated in your  offer email; A polite reminder that there is a MINIMUM purchase of 3 tickets per student, as allocated by Head Office.
These ticket requirements need to be met. Please note for any unsold tickets, you will incur a charge from Head office equal to the ticket price + VAT. 


Now in the original offer email it actually stated "are required to commit to a certain number of tickets from Head Office to ensure the trip can go ahead, therefore we have to ask all students participating in the trip to, in turn, commit to purchasing two/three tickets for the show. Based on previous similar events, we have usually had a demand for extra tickets, if you would like to request more tickets, please let us know ASAP as additional tickets are VERY LIMITED. 

*If you feel you cannot commit to purchasing two/three tickets please let us know and we will try our best to work around it.

Tickets are priced at £55 per ticket plus there will be an additional £1.85 restoration & ticket fee per ticket payable to the Theatre. If you want extra tickets, please advise but tickets are very limited so we cannot guarantee this is first come first served."

We emailed them back to point out we had told them we could only do one ticket and also the original email stated 2/3 

there response was 

"I appreciate that budgeting for opportunities like this requires planning, which is why the ticket requirement was clearly stated from the very first offer email sent on 26th April. The number of tickets expected per student, along with the cost per ticket, was not hidden at any stage.

The offer email also stated:

“If you feel you cannot commit to purchasing two/three tickets, please let us know and we will try our best to work around it.”

This gave families the opportunity to raise concerns at that stage; however, it did not confirm that an alternative arrangement would automatically be available. No message was received from you indicating that you were unable to commit to the requirement.

The same email also outlined that fundraising may be used to support costs if needed and would require participation and support from families. Unfortunately, we did not receive any support in these efforts, which would have helped offset ticket allocations.

On 12th August, a further update was sent confirming that unsold tickets would be charged for, and we politely requested that families inform us if they could not meet the requirement. Again, no communication was received.

A later email that same month repeated this clearly — with the relevant section bolded:

“Please note: for any unsold tickets, you will incur a charge equal to the ticket price plus VAT.”

You replied to this email with childs T-shirt size, but did not raise any issue regarding the ticket requirement. This information has since been repeated in October’s update and again recently, giving over four months notice of the minimum requirement. 

Just to clarify, mentioning in passing that you had purchased your own ticket did not communicate that you were unable to fulfil the required allocation. At no point was a reduced ticket commitment discussed, requested, or agreed between us. 

your child was selected from multiple students for this opportunity based on her hard work. Participation was optional, and accepting her place also meant accepting the requirements outlined in the offer.

As you can appreciate, we work exceptionally hard to deliver performance experiences that go well above and beyond for our students including extra elements that are not charged at an additional cost and I do not personally make a profit from this event. They are included to ensure the students receive a memorable, high-quality and rewarding experience.

With the performance now only two weeks away, all theatre allocations, planning and rehearsal structures are now fully finalised and cannot be changed at this stage. The required ticket allocation was part of the agreement shared in April, and no request to amend this was made or approved. While I acknowledge your recent message stating you will not be purchasing additional tickets, the requirement remains in place, as we are unable to absorb the cost of unsold tickets. 

If the difficulty is purchasing the minimum ticket requirement in one transaction, I can arrange a short phased ticket payment schedule.

I just need to know where we stand we are by no means well off and these classes are the one thing that helps my child channel her asd/adhd but being forced because that is what is after already spending several hundred for her to just do this seems wrong .. if they had just incorporated the cost of tickets into the original cost of the performance we would of known but us telling them we could only get one ticket at the time made us feel this was ok and had been dealt with

sorry this was long winded

thankyou to anyone who can answer

ThumbRemote

It does sound like the dance school have been very clear with the costs and requirements from the start, and you've failed to raise any issues until now - despite multiple requests / reminders. It doesn't appear to have been a compulsory trip, so you've signed your daughter up in the full knowledge of the terms of the trip. 

Is this a large company or a small independent dance school?

On top of the legal standing, I suspect that the dance school aren't going to be too keen with your daughter continuing as a student if you leave them out of pocket. 

Your best bet may be to agree to buying a second ticket, as one of the emails stated 2/3 tickets, and see if they'll agree to this. 

Aylesbury_Duck

It seems as if the original offer email (which I presume you received and read, which is what prompted you to buy the ticket) set out the expectation.  It was woolly, though ("two/three").

Whatever the legal rights and wrongs here, if an ongoing relationship with the dance theatre is important for your daughter, do you really want to get into a dispute with them?  It's possible they'll simply add the cost of what they see as a debt to your next subscription payment.  Or refuse to allow your daughter to continue to attend.

If this is the end of your relationship with them, then you might continue to rebuff their attempts to charge you and see if they take it further.  Based on what you've written, I don't think you have a strong case, but there may be holes in their argument, too.

Or perhaps a practical way forward is to agree to buy a second ticket, thereby meeting the terms of the original email, and meeting them halfway?

pinkshoes

jobe1972 said:

Now in the original offer email it actually stated "are required to commit to a certain number of tickets from Head Office to ensure the trip can go ahead, therefore we have to ask all students participating in the trip to, in turn, commit to purchasing two/three tickets for the show. Based on previous similar events, we have usually had a demand for extra tickets, if you would like to request more tickets, please let us know ASAP as additional tickets are VERY LIMITED. 

*If you feel you cannot commit to purchasing two/three tickets please let us know and we will try our best to work around it.

It seems very clear to me. The whole thing is arranged with the commitment to purchase two/three tickets per child dancing and to contact them if you cannot commit to purchasing two/three.

You told them you did not NEED two/three tickets but that's irrelevant as the contract says you need to purchase two/three. 

I would take advantage of the original email offer where it does certainly say TWO (or three) then purchase one more. Based on what is written they cannot charge you for three, just two.

I'd be looking for a different dance school in future.

PHK

pinkshoes said:

jobe1972 said:

Now in the original offer email it actually stated "are required to commit to a certain number of tickets from Head Office to ensure the trip can go ahead, therefore we have to ask all students participating in the trip to, in turn, commit to purchasing two/three tickets for the show. Based on previous similar events, we have usually had a demand for extra tickets, if you would like to request more tickets, please let us know ASAP as additional tickets are VERY LIMITED. 

*If you feel you cannot commit to purchasing two/three tickets please let us know and we will try our best to work around it.

It seems very clear to me. The whole thing is arranged with the commitment to purchase two/three tickets per child dancing and to contact them if you cannot commit to purchasing two/three.

You told them you did not NEED two/three tickets but that's irrelevant as the contract says you need to purchase two/three. 

I would take advantage of the original email offer where it does certainly say TWO (or three) then purchase one more. Based on what is written they cannot charge you for three, just two.

I'd be looking for a different dance school in future.

It's very common for there to be minimum ticket requirements at dance/theatre schools (and also other types of classes)

jobe1972

Thankyou for the replies .. yes she is moving dance schools we have to give them 6 weeks notice which will be served today .. I am assuming they can not force us to buy 3 as the original email stated 2/3 so if we buy two regardless of them changing the goal post later the original is the one we agreed to so will buy 2 tickets

eskbanker

How do you pay the dance school, i.e. is there a direct debit, or continuous payment authority, or are you paying manually each time?

I'm just thinking that if they don't actually have the ability to take money directly from your account/card, then it would be up to them to pursue you via court for what they'd consider to be a debt, which would strengthen your hand, especially if you bought the second ticket....

jobe1972

eskbanker said:

How do you pay the dance school, i.e. is there a direct debit, or continuous payment authority, or are you paying manually each time?

I'm just thinking that if they don't actually have the ability to take money directly from your account/card, then it would be up to them to pursue you via court for what they'd consider to be a debt, which would strengthen your hand, especially if you bought the second ticket....

Hi we pay for the actual lessons via direct debit and as we have to give 6 weeks notice will have to continue to pay during that time anything extra is paid via card... because they changed future emails to say 3 tickets they will want us to pay for that but my contention is that the original email is where the contract as such was made and that states 2/3 so by buying one more ticket so 2 in total we fulfil that agreement and they can !!!!!! off for the 3rd .. 

Aylesbury_Duck

jobe1972 said:

eskbanker said:

How do you pay the dance school, i.e. is there a direct debit, or continuous payment authority, or are you paying manually each time?

I'm just thinking that if they don't actually have the ability to take money directly from your account/card, then it would be up to them to pursue you via court for what they'd consider to be a debt, which would strengthen your hand, especially if you bought the second ticket....

 they can !!!!!! off for the 3rd .. 

Charming.  I suddenly have a lot more sympathy for the dance theatre organisation.

Ectophile

Is it possible to get together with two other parents, and buy three tickets between you?

That completely subverts the point of the minimum 3 tickets rule, but it seems to meet their rules.

eskbanker

Ectophile said:

Is it possible to get together with two other parents, and buy three tickets between you?

That completely subverts the point of the minimum 3 tickets rule, but it seems to meet their rules.

It wouldn't subvert it as such, in that it simply wouldn't meet it:

The number of tickets expected per student, along with the cost per ticket, was not hidden at any stage