HAIR Seat Removal...Anyone else have this problem?

[LFazin]

Posted: 6/28/11 at 7:25pm

My friend and I bought tickets to see HAIR at the St. James Theatre about two and a half months ago for the 2nd row, left orchestra, for Saturday, July 23rd. I received an e-mail today about an hour ago saying that my seats have been removed because of set/prop design. The e-mail said to call customer service to arrange "comparable seats." When I called, they said they'd call me back because the producers are figuring out some sort of discount code. Anyone else have this problem or heard anything different from Telecharge? I'm so mad. We specifically purchased these tickets because we wanted to be close to the stage for the audience interaction/dance party finale -- we even had aisle seats!

[tking001]

Posted: 6/28/11 at 7:30pm

I heard that the first 5 rows are being sold as premium
However I looked on Telecharge when tickets first went onsale and found second row center as premium now when I click premium for a bunch of dates I get seats further back then If I ask the computer for regular seating

I have a feeling the first 2 rows may be being held for the lottery or rush or possibly taken out

[Shunterk]

Posted: 6/28/11 at 7:34pm

Please let them be held for Rush. Has anyone heard anything else about Rush or Lotto?

[WalkinglnSpace]

Posted: 6/28/11 at 8:41pm

I received that e-mail today too! I had tickets in Row A in the Left Orchestra on the aisle!! I waited on the phone for an hour before the manager spoke to me (the service rep said that the managers are dealing with all of ticket rearrangements, which is why I had to wait so long). Anyway the manager said he is moving us all over from where we were to the centre? So I was 1 and 3 on the left, and he gave me the aisle seats for Row A in the Orchestra (113 and 114, I believe)..

And I asked if AA and BB are sold out and he gave me some generic robotic answer... but I also wonder, do you think AA and BB are going to be in place? I know I was in BB when I saw Gypsy and we were like legit in front of the stage... I know for HAIR they need more room for the cast to walk by, especially with all the interaction in the front row... do you think they will remove AA and BB? I can't see BB being there as it was for Gypsy. What are your thoughts?

[Okayfine]

Posted: 6/28/11 at 8:43pm

This sort of thing happens more often than you'd think, but you have to be assertive. Not aggressive, just assertive. Sometimes they do right by the audience & sometimes they get greedy. You've said that you chose very carefully, so INSIST that your seats be truly comparable. Good luck & have fun!

[viola13]

Posted: 6/28/11 at 9:02pm

Me and my friends have had the same problem. They're reserving the seats across the aisle (A 113 and 114 for me, A 101 and 102 for my friend) until they can get a code to repurchase the tickets. They're hoping to be able to switch the seats tomorrow after the producers clear a code.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 6/28/11 at 9:03pm

I hope they seriously lower that stage or the first few rows are gonna suck for HAIR. That high stage is a neck breaker.

One of the nice things about the Hirschfeld is that the stage seemed to almost bleed into the audience.

I can't see how the show will play in the Saint James.

[WalkinglnSpace]

Posted: 6/28/11 at 9:07pm

viola - So our seats aren't 100% official yet? I received a new order number and it shows up on Telecharge. He also said he had to check first if the A 113/114 was available. I thought it was okay? Now I'm a bit worried.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 6/28/11 at 9:11pm

WalkingInSpace-Im really sorry-that is total BS. You booked early for front aisle seats. You deserve the same. What nonsense. You need to get politely assertive with them at this point. They have house seats or premium seats they can give you.

I highly doubt the show is selling THAT well. It was on life support when it closed on Broadway.

[WalkinglnSpace]

Posted: 6/28/11 at 9:33pm

Thanks for the kind words, Bettyboy! I'm so pissed too because I did the AMEX presale and made sure to get front aisle seats! I tried to raise my concern by saying how we should be able to choose seats rather than be rearranged, but he literally said nothing back to that on the phone. I also thought that for the inconvenience of removing our seats they should upgrade us to premium for no charge... especially if we purchased them so long ago. I bought my tickets in April for this... and to be honest, I usually come once a year to NY to see shows (I'm from Canada) and I usually go in the Fall but came this summer because of Hair, so it is the whole reason for my trip... so I hope that things turn out. I really hope AA and BB aren't there still. I know AA wasn't there for Gypsy (although the telecharge manager said there is an AA and BB in front of Row A) and online seating charts vary. So I'm not too sure what to expect?

And I didn't think it was selling well either... I thought there were a bunch of promo codes and discounts out there? I think on the FB page for Hair they were giving out a lot of discounts.

Anyway, thanks again for the kind words! I hope all of our problems sort out with this issue!

[viola13]

Posted: 6/28/11 at 9:34pm

Well, my aren't, since I booked it with the discount code, but if you paid full price you're fine. They assured that they were holding the seats for me, though, it's not like someone could go and buy them.

EDIT: And yes, Row A center are normally premium seats. Updated On: 6/28/11 at 09:34 PM

[LFazin]

Posted: 6/29/11 at 12:00am

Thanks, guys, I'm so glad I'm not the only one dealing with this!! For those of you who got your seats moved, do they give you an option at all or just place you with the best available? Also, do you have to repay for tickets? They told me someone should be contacting me tomorrow or Thursday...I sure hope so.

[backstageonbroadway]

Posted: 6/29/11 at 12:18am

I'm just checking my email now to find the lovely email from telecharge. this is ridiculous! I'm mad i didn't check it sooner. I purchased tickets like most of you, row A left orch center aisle. i was in A 1&3. i better get just as amazing seats, if not better. i paid full price and booked them APRIL 26 for july 6! i'm hoping the date i'm seeing the show is not too soon to swap for equally great seats. ugh.

[Anakela]

Posted: 6/29/11 at 12:26am

...AMEX presale...

Have any of you called AmEx yet about this? And what did they say? (AmEx presale means you have to have paid with an AmEx, right?) If Telecharge wasn't helping me I'd involve AmEx in the fact that I paid for front row center tickets (especially though an AmEx presale) and I'm currently not receiving front row center tickets; I figure that's one of the reasons I pay a yearly fee to AmEx.

[jj6880]

Posted: 6/29/11 at 12:27am

I had tickets for July 5th-Seats A 5 and 7. I got the email this afternoon and called them within an hour. They were pretty quick on the phone with me (20 minutes) and I was set to go. I paid full price back in April. They moved me to A 103 and 104. The woman told me that they blocked off tickets for "people like me". They refunded my old tickets and I had to rebuy these ones. That part I didn't understand. Why couldn't they just exchange them? Telecharge takes FOREVER to refund, I have heard, but it takes them no time at all to take the money out. I would imagine they are taking out AA and BB, since they need the space upfront for all that. This whole ordeal seems like such a mess!

[theatreguy]

Posted: 6/29/11 at 12:39am

Just to clarify, Rows AA and BB HAVE been removed in the center and side sections. Row A has been removed just on the sides. The first row is A in the center and B on the sides.

Hair isn't exactly selling out, so everyone should be able to get comparable seats to what they originally purchased.

And remember that the folks at Telecharge are just working with the information the producers give them, so there's no need to be mad at them.

[theatreguy]

Posted: 6/29/11 at 12:42am

Just to clarify, Rows AA and BB HAVE been removed in the center and side sections. Row A has been removed just on the sides. The first row is A in the center and B on the sides.

Hair isn't exactly selling out, so everyone should be able to get comparable seats to what they originally purchased.

And remember that the folks at Telecharge are just working with the information the producers give them, so there's no need to be mad at them.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 6/29/11 at 1:20am

They really should have figured all this out before they put tickets on sale. That's what the touring venues did. If I remember correctly they did not remove seats in the venue where I saw the show. The orchestra pit was just covered and at the same level as the floor seats in the orch section. The St. James orchestra pit may be different though.

[iabwayfan]

Posted: 6/29/11 at 6:24am

So, I'm guessing my 3 seats on the side aisle row D are looking pretty good.

I'm glad I didn't have to go through all of this mess! I hope everyone gets the comparable tickets they deserve. It will be a great show!

[LFazin]

Posted: 6/29/11 at 7:48am

Bwayphreak234: I agree! I can't believe we're all going through this NOW!

[backstageonbroadway]

Posted: 6/29/11 at 9:14am

I just got off the phone with them - only took 10 minutes =)
I received row A seats 113 and 114 after previously having A 1 and 3. She said it was the 3rd row. I said "I heard it was the first and they were taking out AA and BB". she didn't think so, which pissed me off considering i was basiclaly in the front row nad now I'm in the 3rd..but they were very helpful and said that they are giving these seats to everyone having this problem. she said they only have certain seats they can give people and she was convinced AA and BB were sold out by people already (which i don't think is true but ok...lol). Not that this will surprise anyone, but just saying that she did take a new order, gave me a new order number and said she will be refundng my money immediately, which is good to know!

[jj6880]

Posted: 6/29/11 at 11:06am

I was told my refund would be immediate too... no sign of a refund yet.

[JujamcynTheaters2]

Posted: 6/29/11 at 1:05pm

First of all, I’d like to apologize to everyone who has been affected by this. We do everything we can to anticipate scenic issues like this before a production goes onsale, but we occasionally run into unforeseen problems. In this case, the stair units that lead from the stage to the house on both sides of the Orchestra level were larger than anticipated, so we have to remove seats A 1-7 and A 2-8, which as you know were already placed onsale.

The seats that we reserved for you as replacements are in the center section of Row A, right across the aisle from your originally purchased seats. Please contact me directly if you’re having problems getting these replacement seats and I’ll help you complete the transaction.

Thanks for being patient with us while we solve this problem. I look forward to seeing you all at the St. James in the next few months.

Jeff Hubbard
Jujamcyn Theaters
[e-mail]

[LFazin]

Posted: 6/29/11 at 8:50pm

Thanks for letting us know what's going on Jeff! It seems that the problem with my tickets is that I bought them originally with a discount, and the producers don't yet have an available discount to repurchase my seats. Any word on when we'll find out more information on that front? Anyone else in a similar situation as me with the discounted seats?

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 6/29/11 at 9:13pm

LFazin-why don't you email him directly, rather than posting questions on here. He gave his contact information.