Shakespeare in another language? Thanks for telling me
When a promotional email from Lastminute.com landed in my inbox advertising a 24hr theatre ticket sale, I just couldn’t resist. Little did I know that the play would not be in English…
With international guests coming to visit me, I thought I’d snap up some discounted tickets to an iconic London theatre. I purchased the tickets and received my booking confirmation email – nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary.
Yet, after finally making it to our seats on a cold and wet Saturday evening, we soon discovered that the play was not being performed in English!
The language of a performance seems like quite a crucial bit of information. I double checked my confirmation email but it made no mention of this fact. We left the play early, as did a few others who also mentioned that they too believed they had never been informed of the language difference.
Where’s theatre ticket refund?
I called Lastminute.com on Monday morning – it told me that I had to email as the company didn’t deal with complaints over the phone. I emailed. The reply told me that the theatre wouldn’t refund my tickets, and since Lastminute.com was only a third-party agent it apparently wasn’t responsible either. Obviously, as a Which? employee, I wasn’t going to stand for this.
My complaint was with Lastminute.com and I felt that it had misled me. Have you ever been stumped by a company apparently using the excuse of a ‘third-party agent’ to avoid taking responsibility?
Unfortunately for me, the crucial piece of evidence – the original promotional email – was missing. I had deleted the email after completing the booking, but I still had a link to the promotional page on Lastminute.com. However, since the deal was a 24-hour promotion, the webpage contained temporary cookies that had been deactivated.
Despite repeated requests, Lastminute.com told me it could not provide me with the original promotional email, nor the webpage that had talked about the deal.
The burden of proof is on you
Six weeks and countless emails later, Lastminute.com continues to insist that the promotional email stated that the performance wasn’t in English. I say it didn’t, they say it did. I’m left with no other choice except to take the matter to the Small Claims Court or let it go.
It doesn’t seem fair that the entire burden of responsibility is placed on the consumer. It’s not practical to take screen grabs of every site and link that I purchase tickets through. Have you ever suffered any issues with buying through intermediary sites like Lastminute.com? Was their customer service up to scratch?
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wavechange
I usually save information on web pages as a pdf in case there is a problem. So far there has not been, but it is fascinating to see some of the minor changes that sometimes occur.
My advice is to call again and hope that you manage to speak to someone helpful. Or phone them and start speaking in a foreign language.
John Ward
I am intrigued to know what language was used for the play, which one it was, and why it was not performed in English.
I think you should take this to the court and demand full disclosure of all relevant documents and images as they are material to your decision and to their defence. If Lastminute had nothing to hide they would have revealed the e-mail if only to shut you up. I can’t believe someone else hasn’t got a specimen of the e-mail lying in a folder somewhere in their e-mail system.
“The language I have learn’d these forty years, my native English, now I must forego” [spoken by Mowbray Duke of Norfolk to King Richard II - in a somewhat different context of course].
Phil
I’ve known some people have the same problem with opera.
At a guess this play was one of The Globe theatre’s much publicised Cultural Olympiad; performing each of Shakespeare’s play in a different language.
Caitlin Graham
Just to update – I received a call from Lastminute’s “VIP” team the day after this Convo went up. They have offered to refund the price of the tickets, although they were keen to stress that this was purely a goodwill gesture and not an admission of liability.
Their email states: “While we do feel that the product description made clear mention of the fact that the show is performed in Hindi, I’d prefer to offer you a full refund as a gesture of goodwill. I’m really sorry for all the protracted inconvenience you’ve had with our customer service agents, and I hope that this eventual resolution is acceptable to you.”
I’m certainly happy to finally get my money back but won’t be booking tickets through a ‘third party agent’ again!
Edel McCurdy
I’m experiencing a similar issue with Lastminute.com, a group of 10 of us went to Chicago in Garrick Theatre where there were mice running freely in the theatre, I’ve contacted last minute who accept no responsibility and will not compensate us, they have also tried to push me off to an e-mail address of the theatre representative using the ‘third party’ excuse!
If anyone can help on what my rights are I’d appreciate it
John Ward
We were sitting in a pub just two minutes away from Westminster Abbey recently when a few mice ran round the wainscotting. I pointed it out to a member of staff but their response was to the effect that they know, they can’t do anything about it, and that most old buildings in central London have this feature. Enjoy!
jamie
just received an email from lastminute.com that the flights i booked for my girlfriend to see her family in canada at christmas are being cancelled by them due to a change in flight schedule (however there is no change in flight schedule as i have contacted the airline).
I cant afford to rebook another flight now due to increased prices. I expect lastminute.com to honour the original booking.
mose
That’s awful re the Shakespeare. In an event like that I would have just put my wife on the phone – I’d be frightened of my Wife on the phone – she just won’t stop until things are resolved. Recently I bought a murder mystery night on one of these Groupon type sites. Because it was an occasion I booked a night at the same hotel the murder mystery evening was to be at. I got a coupon through email for the evening saying that I had to call to confirm our booking. The advert was for a specific even date so a couple of days before the evening I called to confirm only to be told that I was too late and I should have called to confirm earlier. Nowhere was there any info that gave any timeline or time limit to confirm. I was livid but after a no one wanted to take the blame I gave up, nearly £200 worse off. My Wife got on the phone and just nagged an nagged………and nagged and was quite awful to them and she got a full refund for the hotel room which they were adamant with me they weren’t going to do. We never got our refund from the Groupon type site but that was only £19.
My advice is, just don’t let up and be bloody awful to them. They may cave in just to get you off the phone.
Drdr
Someone help! Earlier tonight I had booked a hotel for 47 euro..it was cheap so I jumped at it. I booked it with last minute .com and was in a hurry earlier and booked for tonight instead of tomoro night. I cannot make tonight. Anyway,I tried to change this,bit can’t find a complaint page on d website nor did I receive an email to confirm my booking.. When I called I got an answering machine and that I can ring at 8am. Also when I booked it instead of only taking 47 euro it took 59. I’m stressed and need advice as it’s a Xmas present and needed it sorted. Can anyone help me