A woman has accused Bristol Hippodrome of having a 'disgusting' lack of customer service after her refund request was refused. She was due to attend The Lion King, which is midway through a nine-week residency in Bristol, but was forced to cancel due to her mother's ill health.
Helen J. Abel, originally from Cardiff, has lived in Nova Scotia, Canada, for the past 20 years. She booked to visit her mother who still lives in Wales in May for the first time since 2018 and had bought tickets to see The Lion King on May 28.
"Mum took me there as a teenager for my first live show and it was fabulous. I wanted to share that experience again with an ageing parent," Ms Abel told BristolLive.
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Ms Abel called off her trip to Bristol Hippodrome due to her mum's deteriorating health and sought a refund or - failing that - an exchange. The Hippodrome's refund policy allows those who have purchased SecureMyBooking Ticket Refund Protection to a full refund under 'in a range of circumstances' including sickness, severe weather and travel issues, all of which required evidence.
As Ms Abel has ticket protection but didn't have a doctor's note as evidence so she tried to contact ATG Tickets for assistance. She couldn't find a phone number or email address and so made contact through Facebook Messenger. She requested a refund in an email, which was refused, so she tried to exchange the tickets.
She said: "I tried many appeals through emails but they wouldn't refund. So, I tried to amend the tickets for a later date, but the system wouldn't let me do that because the show was the day before. They are saying I had not requested the exchange 48 hours before the show on Sunday evening although I started communicating Friday morning (May 26), which is more than 48 hours."
A spokesperson from Bristol Hippodrome said: "In line with the ATG Tickets refund policy, all tickets purchased are non-refundable, unless the customer has Ticket Protection. As Ms Abel has Ticket Protection attached to her booking a refund could be obtained by contacting SecureMyBooking.
"Alongside this, when first contacted by Ms Abel an exchange for an alternate performance was offered, along with the details of how to do so, however, this was declined by Ms Abel. The second request for an exchange was sent to us the day before the performance. To facilitate an exchange, we require contact 48 hours prior to the event as outlined in ATG’s T&Cs."
Speaking on the ordeal, Ms Abel said: "I'm frustrated beyond belief. In order to get tickets to a show, you have to book way in advance, otherwise, you will not get seats and shows sell out quickly.
"Everything is dealt with the online system and if you don't tick the right box, that's it, the end. The extreme lack of customer service is disgusting. No personal service now.
"You can't talk to a person to discuss issues. The system is enough to want to make you give up or throw a computer through the window and I'm sure other people have experienced the same. The system is geared in their favour."
Ms Abel said she is still hoping to get a refund but is not optimistic it will happen.
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