Difference between revisions of "Hoyts Website Sucks"

Revision as of 03:04, 26 May 2006

Hello Hoyts,

Your website badly needs improvement.

Case in point: Can you please update your web site so that it does not lead me to try reserving a seat that is simply not available?

I just went through the full process of trying to reserve a seat for Xmen 3 at La Premiere tonight at Fox Studios, and after here was the process I had to go through:

• Step 1) Go to hoyts.com.au
• Step 2) Click La Premiere
• Step 3) Click Select Fox studios
• Step 4) Click X men 3
• Step 5) Click the date
• Step 6) Click the 8 PM session time
• Step 7) click buy tickets
• Step 8) Click "sign in"
• Step 9) Then enter email address and password
• Step 10) Click "sign in"
• Step 11) Then be shown the total price, then click "Next"
• Step 12) Be told that there are no seats left.
• Step 13) Click "search again".
• Steps 14 - 22) Repeat steps 3 to 11 inclusive again, except this time try the "7:15" session.
• Step 23) Be told that there are no seats left, again.
• Step 24) Click "search again", again.
• Steps 25 - 33) Repeat steps 3 to 11 inclusive yet again, except this time try the "9:30" session.
• Step 34) Be told that there are no seats left, yet again.

So, it took me 34 separate actions to discover that you cannot sell me what I want. I repeat: THIRTY FOUR STEPS.

What a waste of my time, and relevantly, what an terrible website. How many people must just give up, and how many sales must you lose because of this? I'm thinking: Lots.

Why did you not tell me at step 6) that there were no tickets available for the times I wanted? After all, the session times are different for each movie, and each cinema, so you have to store separate session information anyway based on cinema + movie + day. Why not show something like this for the list of available session times:

• 12:15pm
• 1:00pm
• 2:30pm
• 3:15pm
• 4:45pm
• 7:15pm - SOLD OUT
• 8:00pm - SOLD OUT
• 9:30pm - SOLD OUT

That way I would have known immediately that you didn't have what I was looking for, so I could try another night.

And another thing: Why do I have to sign in before I have seen the total, and before you have even checked whether seats are available? In other words, steps 8, 9 and 10 should not happen until after the current steps 11 and 12.

Instead of this happening, my step 35) was this: Give up in disgust, and write open letter to Hoyts, and put it online, as well as mailing it to your customer support.

All the best,
Nick.