United States
Review of AARDY
I used the chat feature. When that person did not have all the information I needed, she referred my call to another person. That person called me back in a very timely fashion and provided answers to all of my questions.
Review of London Theatre (.co.uk)
There was no mention on the web site about The Savoy Theatre being totally inaccessible to disabled wheelchair users. It started with the walking directions on Savoy's web site which dead ended for my electric wheelchair at an outdoor hill of stairs, no less than 25 steps to the top. After many frustrating twists and turns, 20 minutes later we arrived at the theatre 10 minutes before the play was to start. When I asked where I could store my wheelchair, I was told by many confused ushers that I would have to walk 75 stair/steps to our seats in row B of the stalls. After much discussion, they then stated that there was an outside "short cut". I did state that I could walk short distances. An usher came with us to show us the way. It was outside, down a very steep 15 steps followed by a steep ramp that was at least 50-60 feet to a side theater door. We were then led to more stairs, by then the pain in my back was great. Once there, we were very upset to discover that the play had been running at least 10 minutes and that in order to be seated, we would have to interrupt more than half of the 2nd row to get seated. Ultimately we wanted to see the play from the beginning. We arrived to the theatre in time just like any other theatre going patron and missed the play because of incompetent ushers and lack of information on the web sites. We booked this play 3 months in advance for our trip to London from the USA. We had already been to see Matilda and later saw The Heathers. We were treated very well and thoroughly enjoyed the experiences.
Reply from London Theatre (.co.uk)
Hi Robin,
Thank you for taking your time to write a review.
Venues are best equipped to handle accessibility queries as they have a more thorough knowledge of the venues and what might work best for your needs. For that reason, most venues will handle all access bookings directly. They're often also able to offer a concessionary rate. When a customer reaches out to us to make a booking for their Access needs, we always guide them to the theatre to purchase their tickets, especially if they are a wheelchair user.
In terms of the savoy, as the theatre was built in 1881, there are some access challenges that come with a historic venue. They have a full Accessibility website below: https://www.thesavoytheatre.com/visitors/your-visit/access which highlights that the Dress Circle is the accessible level with no stairs via carting lane. They also have a wheelchair bay which can only be booked via the venue directly
If we would have received knowledge that you had access needs prior to the show, we would have reached out to the venue directly to ensure you were fuly catered for upon arrival, or ensured your tickets were changed to accessible seats.
Kind Regards
The Customer Care Team
