Flexible ticket purchases - Cool:OffAdded: 27th Jun 2016
Category: Selling tickets onlineThe ticketing industry is traditionally very inflexible with refunds - once you've booked, there's no changing your mind. However, look at the retail sector and it's a known fact that offering a little flexibility to suit the customer can substantially boost sales by encouraging impulse buys.
With this in mind, Skiddle are launching an industry first: Cool:Off. This new opt-in service allows the customer 72 hours after purchase to change their mind and receive a refund.
We've consulted with a number of promoters to ensure this doesn't cause any issues for you - as such, the cooling off period is available for the first 72 hours after purchase, and is not offered in the final week before your event. This ensures your sales in the last week are protected and also encourages customers to purchase earlier. Cool:Off is an opt-in feature so it's up to you if you'd like to enable it. We'll process the refund automatically if they are eligible so there's no extra work for you.
What’s the advantage in offering a cooling off period?
At present ticket purchases are final and no refunds are offered which often puts people off buying because they’re unsure of their plans. Any hesitation about their attendance to an event will simply put them off buying..
We want to overcome this without creating uncertainty for you over ticket sales or time spent having to deal with refund requests .
We’ve consulted a lot of promoters and a large number would prefer to offer customers the flexibility of being able to refund their tickets without affecting the last few days of sales.
Therefore, Cool:Off will give customers peace of mind that they’re able to refund their tickets if they make a mistake or change their mind within 72 hours of purchase.
Our tests with real-customers have shown 64% of customers are more likely to buy if Cool:Off is enabled on the event.
How does Cool:Off work?
If the customer has made a mistake whilst booking or wishes to cancel their order within 72 hours then they can contact us and cancel their tickets.
Do I have the option to opt in/out?
This is an opt-in service, so nothing will change unless you specifically request to use this service. You can enable this within the promotion centre once it's rolled out.
Does the cooling off period apply right up to the date of the event?
No the cooling off period is only available up to a week / 7 days before the event. This ensures your sales in the last week are protected and also encourages customers to purchase earlier.
Is this per event or for all of my events?
You can select this to be set either on or off by default (whichever you prefer) and you will have ability to override this on individual events within your promotion centre.
Do i need to approve requests within the cooling off period, or is it automated?
If you have this option enabled then refunds will be processed automatically when requested by the customer, as long as they are within the 72 hour cooling off period.
If tickets are refunded during the cooling off period, do they go straight back on sale?
Yes tickets go back on sale.
What happens to the barcodes if a refund is processed?
The barcodes are automatically cancelled once the refund is processed
Can I accept a request for a cancellation after the cooling off period?
You will have the ability to refund customers if you wish but this will not be advertised.
We do offer refund protection so if customers have purchased this they’ll be able to apply for a refund if their reasons fall under the policy guidelines.
What happens if a returned ticket is of a lower value than the current price of tickets available at the time of the cancellation?
The customer will be refunded the cost of the ticket purchased.
If your tickets are linked via our chaining facility, it will be added to the highest price ticket on sale.
If your tickets are added separately, the original ticket will go back on sale.
What happens if the ticket has already been remitted then is refunded within the cooling-off period?
A charge will be added to your promoter account for the cost for the value of the tickets. This will usually be balanced out by the ticket being placed back on sale.
What classes as 72 hours (do weekends and Bank holiday count)?
The time starts as soon as the purchase is made and runs for 72 hours or until 7 days before your doors open, whichever is soonest. The customer will need to have contacted Skiddle either by phone/email/live chat within the cooling off period
What happens to tickets purchased via a resale? Are they eligible to be refunded under the cooling off period?
If you have opted into the Re:sell function then yes any tickets purchased are classed as a sale.
What happens if a customer's ticket has been posted out and they then request a refund within the cooling off period?
Refunds will not be available if the tickets have already been dispatched to the customer.
How do I monitor my ticket sales?
The daily ticket count email will show the total live sales at the point they are generated (usually 9am each day).
If you would like a live ticket count at any other time simply log into the promotion centre
What happens to my allocations if refunds are being processed automatically, will they change?
The overall allocation will stay the same, the number of sales will be adjusted to reflect current sales.
If your tickets are now on sale at a higher price and have been linked through our chain system,we will adjust your allocation to allow the returned ticket to be resold at the higher price.
Will I get notified when a refund has been processed under the cooling off period?
We will be offering a notification email at a later date. Until then can you see any refunds using your Order Admin tab within the Promotion Centre.
How long will it take for refund requests to be processed?
Customers can request a refund either by phone, email or live chat. Please note that there may be a slight delay as these can only be actioned during office opening hours.
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The ticketing industry is traditionally very inflexible with refunds - once you've booked, there's no changing your mind. However, look at the retail sector and it's a known fact that offering a little flexibility to suit the customer can substantially boost sales by encouraging impulse buys.
With this in mind, Skiddle are launching an industry first: Cool:Off. This new opt-in service allows the customer 72 hours after purchase to change their mind and receive a refund.
We've consulted with a number of promoters to ensure this doesn't cause any issues for you - as such, the cooling off period is available for the first 72 hours after purchase, and is not offered in the final week before your event. This ensures your sales in the last week are protected and also encourages customers to purchase earlier. Cool:Off is an opt-in feature so it's up to you if you'd like to enable it. We'll process the refund automatically if they are eligible so there's no extra work for you.
What’s the advantage in offering a cooling off period?
At present ticket purchases are final and no refunds are offered which often puts people off buying because they’re unsure of their plans. Any hesitation about their attendance to an event will simply put them off buying..
We want to overcome this without creating uncertainty for you over ticket sales or time spent having to deal with refund requests .
We’ve consulted a lot of promoters and a large number would prefer to offer customers the flexibility of being able to refund their tickets without affecting the last few days of sales.
Therefore, Cool:Off will give customers peace of mind that they’re able to refund their tickets if they make a mistake or change their mind within 72 hours of purchase.
Our tests with real-customers have shown 64% of customers are more likely to buy if Cool:Off is enabled on the event.
How does Cool:Off work?
If the customer has made a mistake whilst booking or wishes to cancel their order within 72 hours then they can contact us and cancel their tickets.
Do I have the option to opt in/out?
This is an opt-in service, so nothing will change unless you specifically request to use this service. You can enable this within the promotion centre once it's rolled out.
Does the cooling off period apply right up to the date of the event?
No the cooling off period is only available up to a week / 7 days before the event. This ensures your sales in the last week are protected and also encourages customers to purchase earlier.
Is this per event or for all of my events?
You can select this to be set either on or off by default (whichever you prefer) and you will have ability to override this on individual events within your promotion centre.
Do i need to approve requests within the cooling off period, or is it automated?
If you have this option enabled then refunds will be processed automatically when requested by the customer, as long as they are within the 72 hour cooling off period.
If tickets are refunded during the cooling off period, do they go straight back on sale?
Yes tickets go back on sale.
What happens to the barcodes if a refund is processed?
The barcodes are automatically cancelled once the refund is processed
Can I accept a request for a cancellation after the cooling off period?
You will have the ability to refund customers if you wish but this will not be advertised.
We do offer refund protection so if customers have purchased this they’ll be able to apply for a refund if their reasons fall under the policy guidelines.
What happens if a returned ticket is of a lower value than the current price of tickets available at the time of the cancellation?
The customer will be refunded the cost of the ticket purchased.
If your tickets are linked via our chaining facility, it will be added to the highest price ticket on sale.
If your tickets are added separately, the original ticket will go back on sale.
What happens if the ticket has already been remitted then is refunded within the cooling-off period?
A charge will be added to your promoter account for the cost for the value of the tickets. This will usually be balanced out by the ticket being placed back on sale.
What classes as 72 hours (do weekends and Bank holiday count)?
The time starts as soon as the purchase is made and runs for 72 hours or until 7 days before your doors open, whichever is soonest. The customer will need to have contacted Skiddle either by phone/email/live chat within the cooling off period
What happens to tickets purchased via a resale? Are they eligible to be refunded under the cooling off period?
If you have opted into the Re:sell function then yes any tickets purchased are classed as a sale.
What happens if a customer's ticket has been posted out and they then request a refund within the cooling off period?
Refunds will not be available if the tickets have already been dispatched to the customer.
How do I monitor my ticket sales?
The daily ticket count email will show the total live sales at the point they are generated (usually 9am each day).
If you would like a live ticket count at any other time simply log into the promotion centre
What happens to my allocations if refunds are being processed automatically, will they change?
The overall allocation will stay the same, the number of sales will be adjusted to reflect current sales.
If your tickets are now on sale at a higher price and have been linked through our chain system,we will adjust your allocation to allow the returned ticket to be resold at the higher price.
Will I get notified when a refund has been processed under the cooling off period?
We will be offering a notification email at a later date. Until then can you see any refunds using your Order Admin tab within the Promotion Centre.
How long will it take for refund requests to be processed?
Customers can request a refund either by phone, email or live chat. Please note that there may be a slight delay as these can only be actioned during office opening hours.
