Hello -
So our subscription renewals are under way but we have a longstanding issue: We sell parking on our website and people often (VERY often) buy one parking pass with their renewal when they need a number that matches the number of shows their subscription has (i.e. a 5 performance package needs 5 parking passes). Right now we have to contact the constituent and they very often say "sure - add 4 more passes".
Our problem is this: When adding 4 more passes to their order, hitting "done", reloading the order and then sending an email acknowledgment, Tessitura's order acknowledgement still generates with the old data. This also happens if we move someone seats in an order. After a "while", the order acknowledgement does eventually pull the correct info but the box office would really like to be on the phone and send the acknowledgment then and there with correct info. I've tried getting folks to (1) done the order and go back in, (2) close their batch, (3) go through the orders tab in the constituent module to send the ack instead of directly in the order but none of that has worked. I'm unsure what is "triggering" to eventually get the ack to pull the correct data.
I've tried tracing the sql calls to see what proc is being pulled but I'm guessing this is an API function now. Is anyone else having this "old data on a new acknowledgement" problem? Box Office really doesn't want to keep a running list of people they need to acknowledge.
Any ideas would be welcome. Thanks!
Richard Jackson
Hello,
Travis, I think that solution would work, though that still leaves the need for dummy performances, which is a personal hatred of mine; I avoid them at all costs. It can also get in the way of Print at Home, which is also irksome (I do not know whether or not Alley Theatre uses PAH, but that has been my experience).
Richard, have you reached out to Tessitura about the confirmation issue? If so, what have they said? At the risk of sounding flippant, we have used both standard and custom acknowledgements, and we have never had them show only old order data; they always include the new information, too. In fact, we have had to very clearly train our staff how to deal with exchanges and seat changes because when that happens and the patrons ask for an updated confirmation, it can sometimes look very odd with the return line items on there. That is, assuming we are talking about e-mail confirmations.
If you are talking about form generated confirmations which you save to a PDF and then e-mail patrons, those CAN take a little bit to update. That is an InfoMaker cache issue, if I am not mistaken, though I have usually been able to get that to go away by re-logging in.
Regarding patrons purchasing the wrong number of parking passes, I suppose I would recommend either updating the text to encourage patrons to buy the number of passes they need per performance (though it might already be that way, and what patron properly reads website text anyway?). Also, we have something similar with our valet parking, though what we did was to name each valet "performance" as the date of the associated performance. That way, it is clear to the patron that they are buying a valet for their performance on March 30th and no other date, thus if they are buying a package, they need to buy valet passes for all the performances if that is their intent.
Best of luck, that sounds like an irritating situation.
John