In August I went to the box office at The Lowry in Salford Quays to book three lots of tickets for various ballets. I chose seats to a total value of £79 and was paying by credit card when everything came to a halt.
The lady rebooked my tickets, I presented my card again, and was assured that I wouldn’t be charged twice.
When I got my credit card statement, there were two amounts charged to my account – the initial £79 and another £87. I checked my tickets and saw that when the second lot had been booked, I’d been sold more expensive ones, which I didn’t actually want.
I have phoned and emailed the box office several times. It agreed that I am owed the money and says it has tried to refund to my credit card, but this is obviously not working.
My January statement shows there has still been no refund. I cannot understand why it cannot make a refund by some other means instead of leaving a customer (and I’ve been going to The Lowry as often as I can afford to since it first opened) out of pocket for so long.
I have to keep chasing this and, frankly, I’m getting very tired of the situation. I’m not well off and I am sure I’m missing £87 more than The Lowry is.
AS, Bury, Greater Manchester
This is disappointing treatment of a loyal customer, though once we got in touch The Lowry’s box office representative phoned you straight away and apologised for the delay. It has not only now refunded you £87 via BACS transfer to your current account but also promised two free tickets to a show of your choice to compensate for the inconvenience.
What a shame it took so long to sort this out. Ironically, The Lowry’s extensive list of terms and conditions does not cover consumer protection when things go wrong at its end, and its information about paying by credit and debit cards applies only to booking online, not in person.
We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number
