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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU to want to complain to the theatre

144 replies

JackieLou · 01/08/2019 12:05

Last week I took my almost two year old son to see a stage version of a popular tv show.
The tickets cost over £40 and the show was less than an hour long.
Add on train travel, refreshments etc and it was a pricey morning out.
Once inside the theatre there was a stall positioned slightly to the side of the entrance selling extortionately priced themed tat- flashing wands, sticker books etc
I managed to avoid my son noticing this as it was out of our direct walking path and we found our seats and enjoyed watching the show.
When we came out of the theatre, two members of staff were stood in the middle of the doorway, with show themed helium balloons - you couldn’t avoid them and they had no price visible.
As we approached, I asked and The balloons were £8 each!!
Eight quid for a balloon!
£8!!!!!
Son obviously wanted one, I couldn’t afford it - or justify it even if I could!
He is one - he cried, I felt bloody awful and it added a real amount mum guilt on to an already expensive day ! Especially when so many other parents had purchased them.
AIBU to complain to the theatre that the staff should not have been stood where they were? Or at the very least have a sign saying how much!
Son is my first child so I’m new to the expense of days out!
The pressure sale approach seems unfair on parents who have already paid so much for tickets!

OP posts:

Teddy275 · 01/08/2019 20:48

Well done for saying no, from somebody who was completely unable to do so for the first three years of dd1's life!

We said yes to it all, to the point that, now, we can't afford to take dd2 on a trip to the local farm 😂

I would just advise that you steer well clear of build-a-bear... they receive some kind of military-level training in pressure tactics... x

Mammajay · 01/08/2019 21:19

I think you should email them. Apart from the cost and the positioning of the seller, we really need move away from buying plastic balloons too often for obvious climate related issues.

Joerev · 01/08/2019 22:43

@ShatnersWig. I understand that. We didn’t actually buy tickets that close. Alfie Boe has to cancel the one we were going too. So the clients were allowed to change their ticket. I found my email 3 months after it had been sent. Wasn’t expecting anything. But they offered us these super close tickets and they paid the difference. I was overwhelmed

However. Like I said. I’m very very sick. So I’ve decided that if I’m too sick to go. I’m giving it to someone else. A friend maybe. Someone who would enjoy the experience as much as I would. Someone should be blessed to have this seat. Even if it’s not me 😊

Joerev · 01/08/2019 22:44

@Teddy275

Hahaha. Loved the build a bear comment! Classic!

RosaWaiting · 01/08/2019 22:48

YABU

You said they were standing in the doorway, that’s not pressure selling.

Alislia17 · 02/08/2019 04:53

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

StitchingMoss · 02/08/2019 05:19

You won’t have years of this to put up with if you carry on saying no and setting expectations . My kids are 9 and 12 now and no exactly what I will and won’t fork out for.

The parents still coping with the tantrums are the ones that said yes - more fool them .

StitchingMoss · 02/08/2019 05:19

Know not no!

Yeahnahmum · 02/08/2019 05:26

*You won’t have years of this to put up with if you carry on saying no and setting expectations. My kids are 9 and 12 now and no exactly what I will and won’t fork out for.

The parents still coping with the tantrums are the ones that said yes - more fool them*

This!!

I do this too. And this is what is going to make your life so much easier and better!!
Also if it was soo much money you had to fork out for a show and a train ticket, just don't!
Your kid is 1 :) it will enjoy anything free. Like a rock
Or a stick haha
I just mean: it doesnt have to cost you so much. At that age they can be so cheap :)

Ivalueloyaltyaboveallelse · 02/08/2019 05:35

I learnt my lesson when my first DC was 1 years old. We went to see CBeebies live at the theatre. Brilliant show however DC fell asleep before the second half and missed most of the show.

HappyLoneParentDay · 02/08/2019 05:42

Why are you all missing OP's entire point?! That the balloon sellers were blocking the exit

Ohyesiam · 02/08/2019 05:51

On the one hand I hear you, but it’s ok to say no to children. Disappointment is such a ubiquitous experience for us all that kids need to learn to deal with it, or life will be constAntly tough and frustrating for them.

1300cakes · 02/08/2019 05:58

Well it sounds like they were standing in the exit. Not blocking it in some type of hostage situation where you must buy a balloon or be trapped forever.

Good on you for saying no OP, but give away the guilt. There's no need for it. Your post earlier about the rose sellers who make it impossible to say no was funny, actually it's easy to say no. It doesn't embarrass me. If they say "oh don't you want to treat your sweetheart?" I say "nope!".

You can start practising with the charity sellers on the street. When one calls after you "don't you care about the poor children" call back loudly "nope!" and laugh.

yikesanddang · 02/08/2019 06:55

I would be more annoyed that they are still selling those foil balloons. A nightmare for the environment and complete tat.

janj2301 · 02/08/2019 07:24

It will be a nightmare when you start museum visits, you HAVE to exit via the shop.

ShatnersWig · 02/08/2019 07:55

Why are you all missing OP's entire point?! That the balloon sellers were blocking the exit

HappyLoneParentDay That's not the OPs entire point at all. She's mostly going on about the cost, the lack of signage, the cost, the high pressure tactics, the cost, and her own guilt.

And they weren't blocking the exit. They were standing in the middle of the doorway. The doorway may well have been 12 feet wide - most larger theatres have several sets of doors which are much wider than your home front door and often you could stand between two sets and not get in anyone's way whatsoever. Do you really think the balloon sellers were stood in such a way that they were stopping people getting out? Don't be stupid. If they had been, the OP would have been totally different from the one she's written.

francienolan · 02/08/2019 08:07

Yabu to complain to the theatre if it's a receiving house which it sounds like it is.

The company that is touring the show has much greater power over ticket and merch prices. Obviously it's working as you bought both!

It will have been in the theatres contract to facilitate selling merchandise. They are probably only getting 10% or so.

I would get over the "mom guilt" and learn to say no to things he asks for that you can't afford. The balloon wasn't a mandatory purchase.

ShatnersWig · 02/08/2019 08:08

francine being someone who doesn't read a full thread before commenting or would have seen that's already been covered

bowchicawowwow · 02/08/2019 08:41

We went to see the Wiggles when they were touring the UK. They were selling helium balloons for £12 and that must have been 6/7 years ago. I was shocked! I can't remember much about the show but the price of the balloons stuck in my mind!

I invented a bit of a rule around souvenirs and tat and I'm lucky that my kids quite like rules and traditions. I've instilled in them that the only thing we purchase from days out etc is a fridge magnet and that it must bear some relevance to where we have been and cost no more than £3. They literally don't see the other rubbish in the gift shops or attractions and run around like Challenge Anneka trying to find a suitable fridge magnet. My fridge now looks a bit of a mess to be fair but they remember where each one comes from. My eldest is at Uni but still brings me back a magnet every time he goes on holiday with his mates.

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