We thought we should address some of the points made by customers today and so I have listed a few responses below.

1. Why are you allowing people to book 4 seats, it would be fairer if it was 2 seats per booking!

We also thought this for a long time, but we received complaints on a regular basis that it was not fair we restricted sales to 2 per booking. On occasions the 2 per booking rule will be used but we decided we would try expanding it slightly to 4 per booking and we think this may be working following feedback. Here is a breakdown for the first two shows today:-

Seats per Booker

1 Seat - 16.13%
2 Seats - 61.29%
3 Seats - 5.38%
4 Seats - 17.20%

The vast majority of bookings (61.29%) are for couples, but by allowing the limit to be 4 per booking we are able to offer slightly larger families the ability to see the show. It's also worth noting how many of you enjoy a solo evening out and we are there for it, thanks for trusting us. We shall continue to monitor sales for this and other shows and will make decisions on a case by case basis.

Today, we are setting the limit to 4 and we hope you can see why. The fact is, those booking 4 seats are not adversely limiting sales overall and we believe this system is fair.

2. You should make everyone book in person only!

This is clearly not a practical solution, nor is it accessible to all. We had over 4,000 people attempting to book tickets for Romesh so far. Asking everyone to fill the high street and form an orderly queue outside the venue could be a little tricky, not to mention unsafe, costly and prohibitive for some.

3. It should be a ballot system and picked out of a hat (or a digital hat).

We don't dislike this idea, but it's not that simple to manage unfortunately and would ultimately be too time consuming and costly to operate without finding a simple way to contact customers and take payment. It's worth noting how tiny our team is and we do not have a dedicated Box Office team.

We will continue to keep this idea on the table, and should we find a way to make it work as efficiently as our current system, we might give it a go... But if we are honest, this isn't likely to be soon, sorry!

4. Why are you putting the dates on sale at Midday AND 6pm?

We had requests to allow on sale times spread across the day as we all have to work or are busy at certain times and a midday sale could be restrictive. We have listened and we are trialling the idea. Check out our website at 6pm and maybe you will be joining us to watch Romesh.

5. How do people get to the front of the queue when I'm in position 3,000?

We use the same queue system many of the theatre venues across the UK use. We understand it can look like others are always at the front or that no one is ever at the front. Social media is a wild west of opinion, and it can be confusing. So here is how it works...

The queue system kicks in when more than 10 bookers attempt to access the seating chart at the same time. The moment an event goes live, and you click/press 'Book Now' you will either go into the queue or be on the seating chart page.

Those on the seating chart have not guaranteed a ticket yet, you still need to select your seats and move to the purchase path. It is possible that you will select the same seats as someone else. If that happens and you don't go to the purchase path first, you will be put back to the seating chart.

Every time someone moves to the purchase path another booker is let in to the seating chart from the queue, and this will continue until all seats have been allocated.

Tips

- Before the event goes live, familiarise yourself with the seating chart so you can select your tickets straight away and move to the purchase path. If you are indecisive here, you may lose out.

- It is worth staying in the queue, just because someone has moved into the purchase path, it does not mean they will complete their order. Sometimes tickets get released back to the seating plan when a customer has failed to pay 20 minutes after the event first went live. This is your chance to book, so stick around if you have the time.

6. You give most of the tickets to your mates before it even goes on sale!!

This is simply not true! We work hard to ensure as many people as possible get to see our shows. We book as many dates as we can get with the artists and we keep the House Seat allocation to a minimum. (House Seats are those reserved by the artist for their team and family)

We only have 110 seats. 10 seats are held for our access customers and on average we hold 6-8 House Seats. That leaves 92 seats to sell. If the majority of customers only buy two seats, that is 42 customers in total per show who have made a booking... It's not a lot when we get thousands of people attempting to buy tickets.

7. I'm not happy with the decision you have made!

I'm sorry! We try our best to ensure all the decisions we make are as fair as possible. We look at data, survey responses and industry standards when making those decisions and still we know not everyone will be happy. We will continue to listen to feedback and make changes where it is helpful to do so. Despite your frustration, I promise we aren't doing it on purpose to ruin your day and I hope you can trust us to make the right calls.

We know it's frustrating not getting tickets and today so far, we have disappointed 3,900ish people. By the end of today that could be 8,000 people and That sucks! But, we have also made the day of over 200 people and that little slice of happiness is what keeps us going.

We are doing the best we can to bring top quality performers to Hemel Hempstead. We know we don't always get things right, but we always listen and we always learn. To prove that you can email me, Stewart (Theatre Manager) at any time, my email is on our Contact Us page or down below. I love a chat and would welcome your thoughts and ideas. Do keep in mind I am probably busy most of the time so I won't always be quick to reply.

Thanks for reading and trusting us with your night out!

Cheers,
Stewart