A theatre-loving family’s trip to Manchester’s Royal Exchange was almost completely ruined when instead of getting six tickets in the post, they received TWO in an ‘opened and resealed’ envelope.
Kate Collins, 52, from Prestbury ordered six tickets, worth £136 in total, for her family to see the theatre’s Christmas production of fairy tale musical Into The Woods.
But when the tickets for the 2:30pm performance on December 27 arrived there were just two in the envelope, which Kate, who was shocked and confused by the ordeal, says looked like it had been tampered with.
She told MM: “I was a bit puzzled because the enveloped looked like it had been opened and then Sellotaped up.”
Kate telephoned the Royal Exchange the next day and they were ‘very helpful’ but they also told her they had had other deliveries damaged.
“I said I was a bit worried that someone might have stolen the tickets,” Kate said.
“But they didn’t think that it was very likely.”
The box office team said they could issue replacement tickets but only once, so Kate will now have to arrive for the show early to collect the replacements.
She is going with her 52-year-old husband Richard, their two daughters aged 22 and 12, their twenty-year-old son and his girlfriend.
“I said ‘what do we do if somebody is sitting in our seats?’ and they said just tell the usher,” Kate added.
“They assured me ‘you’ve got a record that they are your tickets, you’ve paid for them and it should be fine’.”
Located on St Ann’s Square, the Royal Exchange has been a theatre since 1976 and has hosted many high-profile productions, most recently Hamlet with Maxine Peake.
Royal Exchange communications manager Paula Rabbitt said: “We have a very dedicated box office team who are always there to help.”
A spokesman for Royal Mail issued an apology for the trouble caused to Kate and her family.
They said: “We are sorry to hear of the problems the customer has experienced and apologise for the inconvenience caused.
“If anyone has any queries about their post, they should contact Royal Mail Customer Services on 03457 740740 in the first instance so the enquiry can be properly logged and investigated.”
As Christmas time approaches, reports of thefts from post tend to rise. While this particular issue was easily resolved some are not and valuable or sentimental items can be lost forever.
MM would like to know, have you ever had anything go missing in the post? How was the incident handled? If you’d like to share your story either write us a comment or drop us an email.
Original image of Royal Exchange theatre pod courtesy of Gidzy, with thanks.
