Q. In 2023 my daughter bought my wife and I two tickets to see Les Miserables as a Christmas present.
She paid £180 and purchased the tickets from Virgin Experience Days.
We were both so excited as we had previously told her we would love to see the show.
I followed the directions to book the tickets but couldn’t find any available seats that were not restricted by a pillar or at the back.
So in September last year, I decided to upgrade the tickets myself for an extra £37.99 to get “Gold seating” in the hope that two seats would be available at one of the upcoming shows.
But despite this there were still no available seats.
My vouchers were due to expire in September this year, so I wrote to Virgin Experience Days later that month to explain the situation.
They told me I would have to spend £20 more to extend the vouchers again.
I don’t think it’s fair that I’m being asked to pay even more money just to see the show.
Is there anything you can do?
James Callnon, via email.
A.You had quite the experience trying to book your Les Miserables tickets.
You spent hours on the Virgin Experience Days website trying to find seats for you and your wife, but only restricted view ones were available.
Your tickets were worth £107 each – so you would expect seats with a clear view of the stage, not at the back or behind a pillar.
While £107 may seem like a lot of money, most Les Miserables stalls tickets cost more than £100, so I didn’t feel they were bad value.
There is clearly an issue with the booking system here – where people who get vouchers for premium seats are finding it impossible to book them through the website
I was disappointed to read of how difficult Virgin Experience Days made it to use your vouchers.
I also felt it was unfair that you had to pay to upgrade the vouchers when you’d already shelled out a premium for them.
All Virgin experiences are booked directly with its suppliers.
However, some suppliers receive a flood of requests due to the time of year, so less tickets may be available at certain times.
But that doesn’t explain the months you spent trying to book seats.
Virgin Experience Days recommends that if you have trouble booking an experience then you should contact the supplier directly.
But you did everything to try and book the tickets, with no luck.
I put your case to Virgin Experience Days and asked it to sort it out.
Virgin Experience Days apologised for the difficulty you had in booking your theatre tickets.
The company has extended your voucher for free and has provided a list of dates that would suit you.
You have now booked seats for the show.
I’m glad I was able to resolve this case for you and hope you enjoy the performance.
Ask Adele total: £233,976.
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