What do you mean by "almost" I
hear you cry!?
Well a lot will become clearer when you read the complaint letter I have sent to
the boss of Wembley (London) Limited below.
But for now let's just say that the band were there, they looked great, it was
good to see them and by what little I could see it looked as if it was an
amazing show as for what I heard, well that's another story!
Now for the not so good bits which should make it clearer why this reviewer
cannot possibly offer to you a better review that that stated above.
I have reproduced my complaint letter in full, so apologies for the length,
Hopefully it might strike a chord with some of your own experiences. If I should
happen to get a response to my letter, I promise you will all be the first to
hear. Enjoy!
Dear Mrs. J Viazzani, 20/06/05
After having purchased tickets to go and see the band “Motley Crue” at “Wembley Arena Pavilion” towards the end of last year my girlfriend and I eagerly and enthusiastically made the trip from Milton Keynes last night only to have been absolutely crushed, devastated and hugely disappointed by what was a highly anticipated evening which turned into a nightmare.
It is with this in mind that I write to you at my time, trouble and expense with our justified complaints.
I hope that as “Managing Director” of Wembley (London) Limited you will take stock of my comments and make the time to address and respond to them.
First and foremost the venue itself was abysmal. I fully appreciate the fact that Wembley Arena itself is currently undergoing a much needed re-fit, but quite honestly what you have provided your customers and guests with as an extended temporary replacement is beyond belief!
Basically this is a big and glorified tent. Even Nikki Sixx referred to it as a “big tent” during the concert. It most certainly does not lend itself at all well to sound and therefore what we endured last night was a gig with quite possibly the worst sound we had ever heard in what is perhaps, the world’s worst indoor performing space and what for us was the worst gig we had ever been to!
I can appreciate that some of the blame for this must lie with the band’s own production crew ie: sound engineers, lighting etc.. but the venue itself was and is very poorly suited to live music events and should take most of the blame. It was like being in a cave. It was almost impossible to hear the vocals and instruments and most of the time all we heard was the dull thud, echo and boom of bass reverberating around this canvas structure, to say nothing of the lighting which was at best - poor.
Secondly, what point is there in going to see a band if you can’t actually see them? We were sitting in Block B2 in row 26, seats 23 & 24 and disappointingly a mixture between the non graduated floor space and lack of front video screens (which did not seem to be working for the majority of the performance) meant that little if anything of the stage show could be seen.
Thirdly, was the general lack of organisation. On numerous occasions my girlfriend and I had to leave our seats to get some air outside less we collapse with heat exhaustion (more about that later) or purchase some highly over-priced water or use the portaloos when only to find upon our return that our seats had been invaded by others.
In the end we gave up the fight and decided to get out of the way all together and stand quietly together out of the way by the sound engineer’s barrier where there was at least some space and air.
We stood there for some 30 minutes before a rather rude and obnoxious supervisor in a yellow shirt decided to come over and ask us in no uncertain terms to return to our seats. We politely explained our situation to her ie: the crowd invasion of our seats, the heat and lack of air, but she would not have any of it and insisted that we went back to our seats.
With this I asked to speak to her Manager, who in fairness was professional, agreeable and polite and helped to sort out our problem with little fuss and offered us some new seats. Well done at least to him for being so nice and helpful. It’s a shame that his staff did not share his passion and commitment for customer service.
On another note, I really don’t understand why you have a non-smoking policy inside the arena when so many people flagrantly violate this rule. As smokers ourselves, we would and did go outside if we wanted a cigarette, but so many people did not and were not told otherwise by your staff.
This was even more maddening and irritating when I spotted the sound and lighting engineers casually smoking themselves behind their mixing desks. I confronted one of the Wembley staff by the desk and basically they said it was ok for them but not ok for the rest of us. Why was that I casually asked? She did not know, she said.
I think that you will agree that this was obviously a case of one rule for some and one rule for others. Is this fair and just? I think not.
The same would apply to people standing on seats. Whilst some of your staff would ask people to get down, other staff would simply turn a blind eye and do absolutely nothing. It was bad enough that you could barely see the stage, absolutely hopeless if someone is standing on a seat in front of you!
The same again goes towards people smoking cannabis. Whilst I am most certainly not naive enough to think or assume that people don’t smoke cannabis at such events, may I point out that this is still illegal and based upon last night’s concert was being flagrantly violated on your premises with no action being taken against those individuals who were indulging in this illegal and possibly dangerous practice. Nor is it welcome from those of us who don’t partake. For your numerous staff to not be aware of this must have meant that they were either blind or had no sense of smell.
Fourthly, the heat. Ok so it is not Wembley’s fault that we attended this particular event on what was to be the hottest day of the year, but as your web site describes the arena as being “climatically controlled” we were inadvertently led to believe that there was to be some air conditioning.
How wrong could we be? If you happened to have been there last night, you too could have enjoyed what must have been the biggest indoor sauna in the world. It was insanely hot and I would be very surprised to hear of no one having collapsed with heat exhaustation in what I believe was a very un-healthy and unhygienic atmosphere for any living creature on this planet!
Even animals would not be kept or transported in such extraordinary conditions. I believe that a so called “high prestige” venue such as yours has a “duty of care” to its customers and guests to provide them with a comfortable, safe and pleasant atmosphere and that under existing health and safety regulations for customers, visitors as well as your staff such deplorable conditions would be highly frowned upon if not possibly considered illegal and dangerous by the Health & Safety Exec.
It is with all this that I really do believe that under “The Sale of Goods and Services Act” this concert was “not of merchantable quality” and that your web site for the venue is highly misleading and indeed inaccurate. (Inaccurate and false advertising). The venue does not lend itself to music concerts at all well and is therefore “not fit for purpose”.
Considering the high price
we pay these days for concert tickets (this particular concert over
Why set up such a poor venue in Wembley Arena’s place whilst building work is going on if you can’t provide the simple basic elements that as customers we expect and require? I must admit that the only reason that comes to my mind is simply one of sheer unadulterated financial greed!
Fifthly the high cost of parking. I have not spoken to one person who does not feel the same. £15 for parking your car to see a show at Wembley is an absolute outrage! The fee is totally extortionate, a complete rip off and basically a farce. How on earth can you justify and defend such a costly fee? It is bad enough paying the high price for drinks and snacks within the venue, but £15? – get real!!!
Ok, so for your information here is the cost breakdown for you and your financial execs to have a look at for a night out for two people to see a show at “Wembley Arena Pavilion”. (Based on our experiences of last night)
Total Cost = £162.50
Please bear in mind when reading the above financial breakdown that we do not earn as much as business execs. To us, this is a lot of hard earned money!
Do you honestly feel that you are providing a “value for money service”? If so, you are seriously kidding and deluding yourselves!
To put this into perspective, for the same money it is possible to buy a return Eurostar ticket for two people to Paris plus overnight accommodation.
Or put another way, you could have had a slap-up take-away meal and relax on the sofa at home listening to a Motley Crue record, with a cool drink in hand for a fraction of the cost.
Do I /we feel ripped off? Yes indeed we do. I only hope you remember that when you receive your wages this month and your share holders receive their dividends.
As a regular concert goer, writer and reviewer myself and based on last night’s experiences I will most certainly not be recommending “Wembley Arena Pavilion” as a concert venue to any of my friends, relatives or readers. In fact, if asked I will instead tell them to avoid it at all costs and go elsewhere to see their favourite bands. It’s just not worth it!
I sincerely hope; that before you throw my well thought out letter in your executive bin and pour yourself a coffee, that you take my comments, opinions, views and complaints seriously.
I am most certainly not alone and many of the comments and opinions I have made above were expressed equally by a large number of intelligent people I spoke to at the gig last night who felt exactly the same. So in some ways, I not only speak for myself, but also for the silent majority that have to put up with such things.
So instead of making the long drive home last night talking about what a great time we had, instead we sat in silence and disappointment and thought what a waste of time, money and effort it had all been.
I sincerely hope that this is not something for “Wembley” nor yourself to feel proud or smug about and that the next time you sit round at an executives meeting you bear a thought for all those people who struggle to find the money to buy a ticket and come and visit your establishments for a well deserved night out.
“Wembley Arena Pavilion” is a total and utter sham and a disgrace! You should be ashamed of yourselves for having the audacity to advertise and promote this as a concert venue for our capital city.
Your valued and constructive comments (excuses not allowed) would of course be greatly appreciated and which of course I would only be too happy to share with others.
Alternatively I will take a non-response as being a “couldn’t care less” attitude which was sadly only too prevalent at last night’s gig.
Thanks Wembley for a night out we will certainly never forget!
Sadly and sincerely yours,