What to do if your event is cancelled or postponed

Whether due to unforeseen circumstances, logistical challenges, or external factors, the need to change event dates or timings can happen at any moment. In some cases, events, shows or entire tours can unfortunately need to cancel or reschedule after tickets have already been sold. Rescheduling an event requires careful consideration, clear communication with customers and of course planning to switch the date over seamlessly for everyone involved. 

In this article we will take you through the steps to take when your event has been cancelled or postponed.

Disable sales on your event

First, disable sales on your cancelled event so that no further tickets can be purchased.

Go to Manage > Shows

1. Click on the Show and then the Run and the Event in question. 

2. On the Event details tab, you will need to adjust some toggles on the right hand side of the screen. As a reminder, toggles set to 'On' are (blue).

"Enable booking?"

• On means the event is still listed at the Box Office so staff can still see it (it will also still be bookable).
• Off removes the event from the Box Office listings.

"List online?"

• On means the event is still listed online (the next toggle will disable sales - see below).
• Off removes the event from your online Ticketsolve site.

"Online sales disabled?"

• If "List online?" is set to 'On', turn "Online sales disabled?" to on (blue) so the event is listed online still, but booking is disabled.

3. Click Update Event when you are ready. 

If you have more than one event that has been cancelled or postponed, repeat this stage for all affected events.

Update your messaging at the Point of Sale

The steps you need to follow in this section will depend on if the event is still listed online and/or on the Box Office. 

If your event is still listed at box office:

You should add an Instruction on the Show/Event itself; these can only be seen at the Box Office view. This means that your team can see that there is an issue with the event and ensures no more bookings are processed.

Go to Manage > Shows

1. Select the Show required

2. Click the Settings tab at either the Show or Event level.

3. Search for and click the setting called "instructions".

In the pop-up:

1. Write your 'instruction'; keep it short and concise ('Do Not Book', 'Event Cancelled', 'Postponed until DD/MM/YYY', etc.).

2. Click Update when ready.

The Instruction will now appear in the show summary in the Box Office view.

If your event is still listed (with sales disabled) online:

Go to Manage > Shows

1. Select the Show required

2. Click the Settings tab at either the Show or Event level.

3. Search for and click the "website_booking_disabled_message" setting.

4. In the pop-up box, add the text you want to display to customers online about the event being cancelled. 

5. Click Update.

The message will now display to customers on the Show page online, instead of the book tickets option. 

Turn off any pre- and post-event alerts

Now you need to make sure that customers don't receive any upcoming event reminders or post-event emails.

Go to Manage > Shows

1. Click on the Show and the Run and the Event you need.

2. Click the Settings tab at either Show or Event level.

3. Search for and click the settings: 

• "upcoming_event_customer_alert" - set this to False (unticked) and click Update.
• "post_event_customer_alert" - set this to False (unticked) and click Update.

Save your current customer list 

Before amending orders, we recommend running off any customer list reports so you have an accurate list of who was originally booked to attend your events at the point of cancellation or postponement.

Go to Manage > Box Office 

1. In the Event in question, click on Event summary.

2. In the top right of the Event overview screen, click the dropdown View/Print lists. 

3. In the dropdown select, you have 3 options for the Customer list:

1. Download a CSV File 
2. Download a PDF File 
3. View the list in your web browser, with an option to print.

The Customer list report gives you a full list of customers for the event, including the order number, email address, postal address and phone number (provided these are all on the customer's record).

Let customers know the event is cancelled or postponed

Through Ticketsolve, you can email your audience about the cancellation or postponement. 

Go to Manage > Box Office 

1. In the Event in question, click on Event summary.

2. Click on the Email all event customers option on the right hand side.

3. In the pop-up box, fill in the information you want to send to customers. This will go out as a plain text email to all customers who currently have a booking for the event, regardless of their opt-in marketing preferences. 

In this pop-up complete the following:

1. Subject line for the email (required).
2. Bcc address line if you want to send a bcc copy of the email to staff. All current customers of the event will be bcc'd automatically using the details on their customer record. You do not need to add customers' email addresses here.
3. Content (required). Add the message that will be sent out to your audience and any instructions that you would like your audience to follow. This box will already have the following merge fields added, we would recommend keeping these in place. We strongly recommend that you include Box Office content details so customers can contact you if they needed. This is especially important if your system emails send from an @ticketsolve or 'donotreply' address, as you won't receive any replies that customers send directly.

Dear {{customer.postal_name}}
{{event.name}}

4. To cancel sending the email click Cancel.

5. Click Send Email when you are ready.

Please be aware that this email will be sent in basic plain text email as originated in your Ticketsolve system. 

6. Repeat this process for all affected events.

To reschedule your event

Change the date and put the event back on sale

If your event has been rescheduled, once you have followed all the above steps and made sure that customers have been contacted, you can change your event to the new date.

Go to Manage > Shows

1. Click on the Show and then the Run and the Event in question. 

2. In the Event details tab, change the Event date and Start time.

3. Turn on (blue), (or off) the toggles for:

• "Enable booking?"
• "List online?"
• "Online sales disabled?" (turn off/disable)

When you change the event date:

• All current bookers be carried over to this new date automatically. 
• All e-ticket/print at home tickets will be updated to the new event date and time once they have been downloaded again from the customer's confirmation email.
• Printed tickets will remain the same until new stock is issued (depending on your policies & procedures). 

Turn on any pre- and post-event alerts

You will also want to reenable any upcoming event reminders and post-event emails that you had previously switched off. Go into the Show or Event settings:

• "upcoming_event_customer_alert" and make sure it is set to True (ticked). Click Update.
• "post_event_customer_alert" make sure it is set to True (ticked). Click Update.

Processing refunds and exchanges

Each venue will have their own refunding policies when it come to this sort of action. When you are ready to action your refunds and exchanges, bear in mind the following:

• Cash, Chip & Pin and Cheque payments must be processed manually. For help refunding orders, please see our guide on how to Amend and Refund orders.
• Credit Card Refunds can be performed without contacting customers directly. That said, if the payment was made over 180 days prior then you will not be able to do this. You will need to follow the instructions in our refunding orders when original transaction is not found article.
• Timings can and do vary, but Credit/Debit Card and Chip & Pin Refunds should receive the monies into their accounts within 3-5 working days. It can however take up to 14 working days in some cases.

Want to know more?

• How to move an event to a new date
• How to send an email to customers from Ticketsolve
• How to amend and refund orders