01/23/08

no refund when your event gets "changed"

by aroseisarose

No Emperor Concerto because the featured pianist cancelled? Never fear, you can hear Beethoven's 4th instead! Not what you paid for? Doesn't matter because all programs and artists are subject to change. They don't tell you that when they promote the event and take your money. Once you pay for your ticket, you are a captive to whatever LA Phil chooses to offer you. So don't be fooled by the promotion or the meaningless words on your ticket. We waited for three months and drove for three hours to hear the great Emperor Concerto only to be met by a sterile placard announcing the "program change." When a feature artists cancels, LA Phil should call a spade a spade and offer disappointed patrons a refund!

• Pros: beautiful building
• Cons: treats patrons like captive sheep

01/23/08

Fantastic cultural center. Thank goodness no children under 2 allowed!

by savetheplanet

With an impressive program of concerts, from traditional classical to experimental, Disney Hall sets a standard for the nation. Dining also offers a range from Patina for quite a lot of money or the cafe for a quick and reasonably priced meal. As for the person who complained about not being able to bring in his or her 2 year-old, this is good news for the rest of us. I don't know of a concert hall in this country that would allow a 2-year old. Call it etiquette, good breeding, good manners, it pretty much goes without saying that this isn't done. But if you don't want to stand on ceremony, there's a good common sense reason why this isn't done. Why expect a child of that age to be quiet and still for hours on end? It's not fair to the child or to the other audience members. For a parent to expect to bring in a child under 2, well this is a level of entitlement that surpasses all consideration for others. For the rest of you readers, you'll be happy to know that your concert will not be interrupted by an adorable but unhappy child, put into an unfair situation by his or her entitled parents.

01/01/08

Walth Disney Concert Hall and LA Phil - A Very Bitter Pill

by mattssfv

It is with regret that I find it necessary to send this message. As a LA native, I have long been a patron of the arts through the Music Center and resident company programs. However as a new parent, and having been informed by them that they have a policy strongly discouraging family attendance of those programs, I find it necessary to withdraw my support from these programs, and encourage other parents to do likewise.

About a month ago, we had decided to take them and our child to a special program here for her first New Year's Eve. My wife called to get the best seats we could, and checked the policy for tickets for children under 2. We were told no ticket was necessary.

As we arrived and went through security, we were stopped and escorted aside by 3 guards. A few more security people came to guard us and inform us that we could not enter, because we had our child. After the supervisor was called, we were told that we could not enter without a ticket for our child, and that they were "all sold out". We asked for the manager who came to tell us that "he would see if there is anything he could do" and that he was the Director and Site General Manager for the Music Center, and that his job was to enforce the regulations, so he couldn't help with a ticket purchase, he could only deny us entry. He further informed us that the Music Center considered it irresponsible and inappropriate to bring children.

We went back to the box office window, the supervisor offered to sell us a ticket (without a seat!), for a 30% premium, or refund the face value of the ticket. She also said, "It would just be better if you went home, we like to discourage children from coming."

Funny enough, after they took our tickets, 4 people came up to buy tickets, however, they were told that the only tickets were $25 above the face value of our tickets. I thought scalping was illegal! The people behind the glass would not sell our tickets as all of their systems went down.

• Pros: The building is pretty on the outside.
• Cons: The Music Center claims to support programs for children, however, but only when they do not attend shows.