Hey everyone!
We're getting excited over here at Nashville Repertory Theatre about the prospect of returning to live performance, and I hope everyone else is as lucky! As we all know, variants of COVID-19 are on the rise, and we want to be as prepared as possible for all scenarios.
I wanted to see if anyone has a customer-centric ticket exchange policy for single ticket buyers that has worked really well! We are a pretty small org and do not control our own box office (though there's a great team over at TPAC, hi TPAC!!). Generally we charge fees for exchanges unless you are a Premium Season Ticket Holder. Ideally, if COVID is a problem for one of our patrons, we would exchange the ticket at no cost for a ticket to any other show, whether it's the same production or not, but of course, that has its challenges.
Does anyone have a great policy or solid best practices, specifically if you have different price types across shows?
Thanks!
HannahDirector of Marketing and Sales, Nashville Repertory Theatre
Hi Hannah,
Happy to hear that you're returning to live performances!
We've been fortunate to have been performing over the last year, which has taught us a lot about needing to be quick to react to all the unexpected Covid requirement changes and how to handle them all with messaging. While we've had lots of performances able to take place at full capacity, we've still had lots of instances where a performance had to be cancelled or rescheduled with very little warning (sometimes months ahead and other times only an hour before opening).
We've gone through a through variations of messaging over the year, but this is what we have landed on as working best for us and our customers:
In the pre-performance emails and at time of purchase we include the line:
COVID-19 Health and Safety: If you have any cold or flu-like symptoms or feel unwell, please do not come to the performance. We offer a full refund if this is the case. The venue will provide hand sanitizer and display the Government COVID-19 tracing app, which we encourage you to use.
(Our organisation has the outlook that we would rather have to refund money to someone who is sick than become a super-spreader event and risk harm to reputation and our other customers. We don't ask for proof of sickness, but we haven't found the clause being taken advantage of either. When they speak with Box Office, they are encouraged to exchange to another performance first, but if they would prefer a refund, then we refund).
For performances that are cancelled or rescheduled due to Government restrictions (we include this messaging in the pre-purchase path and link to it in marketing material too, so people feel reassured before purchasing) :
If you have purchased tickets to a New Zealand Opera production that is disrupted due to COVID-19, you have some options for your ticket(s):
If you have purchased a ticket via Ticketek, Ticketmaster or Eventfinda, they will be in contact directly with all ticket holders.
If you have purchased a ticket from New Zealand Opera, there are three options:
Credit: Where possible if a performance is rescheduled then we can credit your ticket to the rescheduled season and we will be in contact regarding dates and times for the new performance.
Donation: The whole arts sector will be hugely impacted by cancellations due to COVID-19 and New Zealand Opera is no different. If you have the means to do so, we would gratefully receive your ticket price as a donation or as a credit toward a future production so our Company is able to operate as normal through this challenging time and beyond.
Refund: If you are unable to come to the rescheduled dates then you can request a refund.
If you have further concerns or questions please contact our Box Office on 0800 xxx xxx.
(Those who purchased through the third party ticketing agencies mentioned, will be contacted with the options of exchange to another of our performances or a refund).
Hope that helps!
Alison