Restricted view from premium seat at concert (Hampton Court Palace)

itm2

We went to see Elvis Costello at Hampton Court Palace in June. We paid extra for premium 2nd row tickets from Ticketmaster (the tickets were bought in March). We arrived at our seats just before the show and were annoyed to find that a large monitor speaker at the front of the stage was completely blocking our view of half of the band. We had a look around to see if there were any empty seats in the area that we could move to, but there were none.

This was particularly annoying as we could have paid £30 for non-premium seats, and had an unobstructed view of the stage.

We made a formal complaint to the event organizer (Hampton Court Palace). We requested a partial refund of £140 (this being the difference between the price of the premium tickets and the price of regular tickets).

Their response was:

"I am sorry to hear that your experience at the Elvis Costello concert was not as you, or we, would have hoped for. Our aim is for all guests to have the best experience whilst at the event, and I am disappointed to hear this may have not been the case on the day.
Whilst our, Hampton Court Palace Festival's, sound equipment is based underneath the stage, some artists do bring along additional equipment and sets of which we unfortunately are not aware of when the tickets go on sale for the event. However, I understand and appreciate any frustrations this may have caused on the day, and I am sorry to hear if you felt that your view was not as you would have hoped for.
We have a dedicated Front of House Manager and stewarding team who would have been more than happy to have addressed any concerns you had on the day and offer you some alternative seats if this had been brought to their attention. I am sorry if you may not have been aware of our teams on the day, and if you were unable to speak with them."

So we then complained to Ticketmaster, on the grounds that we were not made aware that the seats were restricted view at the time of purchase. Ticketmaster's response was:

"As an agency, we sell tickets on behalf of the venue and event organisers. They provide us with detailed information about the quality of the seats, so if any problems have been flagged we'll let you know during the checkout process.
As we're not based at the venue, we have to take it in good faith that all of this information is accurate, so I'm sorry if the seats weren't what you'd expected.
If you wish to escalate this further, please get back in touch with the event organisers via the form previously provided."

Finally, I raised a dispute with Amex. They initially gave a temporary refund of £140 while they referred the dispute to Ticketmaster, but then re-debited the £140 to my account after Ticketmaster gave them this response:
"The merchant states that it acts solely as a ticket agent, selling tickets on behalf of event organizers and venues, and is not responsible for organizing, managing, or delivering the event itself. Therefore, venue policies and entry requirements are set by the event organizer or venue, and any related issues fall outside the merchant's responsibility.

Here's what to expect: As this documentation appears to support the transaction, the amount previously credited has been reapplied to your account balance. You will see this reflected on an upcoming billing statement.

itm2

….does anyone have any ideas for how I can be properly compensated for this?

mta999

Ticketmaster are acting as your agent so you have no recourse there

As far as I can see, unless you can persuade Hampton Court Palace to give you a goodwill payment then LBA and small claims route on the basis that any reasonable person would expect to be able to see the band from premium seats

Aylesbury_Duck

It seems plausible that the entity you purchased the tickets from wouldn't have known of the extra equipment the band added, and the venue is suggesting they may have had a solution had you spoken to them at the time.

Is "premium" your adjective, or theirs? If it's theirs, what was the description of premium seats and how did it differ from the regular ones? Is there anything in there that you can point to that demonstrates they didn't meet the descriptor?

MyRealNameToo

Presumably it is something like

To be honest, like being in the stalls of the theatre, you are never going to have the vest views from the early rows and those further back in the stepped section will have but those views you do have will be far more up close and personal. With the Mrs not being the tallest person alive we always will book further back for the better overall view, other than at the royal albert hall where the balcony seats are far too uncomfortable so the boxes (you can book individual seats not just the whole thing) win out.

Personally, its live music, some gigs are better than others. Sounds like you should complain to the band. We did have a very poor experience when seeing an act that had moved from RAH to the O2 as there was a constant stream of people coming in out and out (whereas RAH closes the doors during the performance) - the artists were good about it and gave us free tickets to the next performance which had returned to the RAH thankfully.

itm2

TBH I can't remember how the seats were described, but the ones at the front were just a helluva lot pricier than the ones further back.

Interesting idea re. complaining to the band. I have no idea how to do this, but I've just sent a DM to EC's Facebook account - I have no idea whether this would get anywhere near anyone who might give a toss….

jaybeetoo

My wife and I once went to the theatre and we were unable to see more than half of the stage because of lights that had been installed in front of our seats. The tickets were not sold as restricted view. We complained at the time. The theatre was full so no other seats available. Fair play to the theatre, when we wrote a formal letter of complaint we received a full refund. Don’t give up!

Grumpy_chap

Did you mention the issue to the Front of House staff at the time, or only complain after the event?

A remedy might have been possible if raised at the time.

Aylesbury_Duck

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82105490#Comment_82105490

No harm in trying an approach to the band - you might get some sort of goodwill gesture.

The other thing to do is find other events at that venue and see how "premium" seats are described. It's possible that they aren't, and that they're simply charging more to be closer to the stage, but if there is a description that differentiates it from normal seating and you can show they didn't meet it, then I think you do have a case to claim the difference from the venue. A LBA will cost you a stamp and may just generate some go-away money rather than the hassle of dealing with possible court action.

I've largely given up going to these sorts of events now. The consumer rights chain is so convoluted between artist, venue, ticket agent, etc., I resent the prices often charged, with all sorts of silly fees added on, and I despair when I'm seated among people who are constantly up and down out of their seats, talk to each other throughout, or spend lots of it on their phones.

itm2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82105496#Comment_82105496

Yes we had a similar experience, and the theatre offered us seats to another night/show by way of compensation, which was appreciated. Hampton Court Palace don't seem so bothered, though.

My last email to Hampton Court was effectively a sort of LBA. It contained this final paragraph:
"As you are unable to resolve this, I will now be escalating this matter as a "service not as described" dispute via my card provider under [Section 75 / Chargeback protection], and logging a formal complaint with the Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR) regarding hidden restricted views."

…but it seems that Section 75 doesn't help, and Ticketmaster don't seem to be accountable either.

My main argument was that any restricted views should be declared at point of sale, which they were not in this case. I also pointed out that the rest of our section was full, so even if we had caused disruption (to ourselves and others) by complaining to staff they could not have moved us to seats anywhere else in the front section as it was full.

Aylesbury_Duck

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82105530#Comment_82105530

They will know that neither of those two threats will come to anything, so I'd send an actual LBA. They'll either rebuff or ignore it, and you'll then have to decide whether to see through on your threat, or they'll offer something in the hope that you go away.