Yes you can, Digital Theatre!

On By EstherIn Richard Armitage, TV & media

I haven’t heard back from Digital Theatre after the e-mail I sent two weeks ago and a second reminder e-mail I sent last weekend. The reminder e-mail was sent on September 3rd but the automated reply I received stated they’d be closed for the Bank Holiday on August 28th. Another Digital Theatre whoopsie…

What’s even sadder is that e-mailing them doesn’t get a response; maybe tweeting at them will? As Perry suggested here on her blog, a tweet storm at them might be good! I’ll just go ahead and do my little part, I’m tired of waiting for DT to respond adequately! I will include this blog post in a tweet at them. Should anyone care to tweet as well, I suggest that the line “@DigitalTheatre #TheCrucible #fixit!” and also #RichardArmitage be included in any tweet and then add whatever message of your own that you wish to include.

So, Digital Theatre, let me reiterate the point YET AGAIN:

For me, The Crucible is one of the best things Richard Armitage has ever done. I saw it in the theatre, was blown away by it, and was so pleased that it was filmed for Digital Theatre! As an Armitage fan I was so happy to be able to get back to it again and again, the very reason why I purchased it for life in the first place. Oh, and I didn’t just purchase it, I also paid to see it again in the cinema; I took my mother to see it as well, so that’s another extra ticket sold (and the painting she made in tribute is now my blog’s header image)! I think I have paid more than my fair share for The Crucible to Digital Theatre by now.

Crucible posters

I was promised free access to my property forever after purchase. When after only 2.5 years this promise is changed (after offline viewing has also been made impossible earlier this year), my trust in Digital Theatre as a keeper of my property goes down the drain. I see on your support site a message that gives these two options:

DT 'offer'

On the one hand a free subscription is offered but how long will it be free? Just for the initial 6 month period that was originally advertised or is it free for life? What guarantees are there that the subscription will indeed be free for life?

The second option is to “manually apply the previous purchases to your account”. How does that work? So, I still need a Digital Theatre account to access my purchase? Is this what is meant by the long-term rental option you had mentioned in an earlier statement that I now can not seem to find anymore? Let me just say that ‘Long-term rental’ doesn’t do it for me! Rental, long-term or not, suggests I don’t own it anymore.

So, when in the near (2.5. years) or far (25 years) future some new policy is made, for example my free membership is revoked or my account is blocked for some reason or if Digital Theatre unexpectedly should go bust, how will I then be able to access my purchased copy of The Crucible? I hope, you can understand my hesitation in accepting these solutions you offer? I therefore ask you, Digital Theatre Support, to please support me as your customer and send me my own HD copy of The Crucible (mp4 download or a DVD/Bluray would be fine).

I’m only asking for something that is already supposed to be mine… And while you’re at it, please send me my copy of Much Ado About Nothing as well, with David Tennant and Catherine Tate; I had purchased that as well 2 years ago…

I’m counting on you to do what’s right, not only for me but also for all the other Richard Armitage fans out there who have purchased The Crucible  (and/or other productions) so they can see it forever as well. I’m sure there must be a way, Digital Theatre… yes, you can!

43 thoughts on “Yes you can, Digital Theatre!”

  1. Servetus

    quick suggestion — if you want fans to participate you need to tweet #richardarmitage. Best way to get their attention. However, the more hashtags in a tweet the lower its distribution.

    Do you have a ticket number? I was thinking a campaign on the lines of “whose ticket are you serving now?” might be in order. At least then we might find out if anyone’s gotten a reply.

    Like

    Reply

    1. Thanks! I actually did use #RichardArmitage in my tweet, will modify to add that in text above as well.

      Ticket nr – I’m sure I have one but haven’t checked. Good follow up suggestion, though! Will look into it.

      Like

      Reply

  3. I’ve got an totally useless reply from the DT support team. I was told they couldn’t find my mail address on the new database and suggested I typed in the wrong mail address while trying to log in.
    Then they confirmed my own mail address to me which I used to write my complaint mail and told me I have to confirm my account via the website and therefore need an verification mail (been there, done that, never got that verification mail).
    If I couldn’t find said mail (that I’ve never got) they offered to send the verification mail again manually. I asked them to do so and now I am waiting again because nothing happend afterwards….
    I wish I could write to them in German to tell them what’s on my mind right now *grrrrr*
    Oh and my ticket number is #18620

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. That’s useless! It feels like they’ll deny you that you even bought it…
      I can log in to the site but all I get to see is a payment page. No way am I leaving my payment details on this new site.
      Thanks for the ticket number. I didn’t receive a ticketnr after my first e-mail, I did get one after my second one (#19067).

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

        1. I guess I need to send another reminder, haven’t heard a peep from them yet! I can log in but not access my library… maybe I could if I gave my credit card details but I don’t want to do that.
          What did the email say for you?

          Like

          Reply

          1. Here’s the full text: “Thank you for contacting Digital Theatre Support. I am sorry to hear that you are having difficulty with logging in.
            I can see that you have successfully registered your account with us so I have reset your password for you and made sure that your account information is complete. This should stop the error message appearing for you when you attempt to sign in.
            Your new password is: xxxxxxx
            You’re more than welcome to change your password of course, which you will now be able to do on the account page after successfully signing in.
            It was never our intention to deny you access to productions that you have already paid for. For customers who have previously purchased productions with us there are currently two options available for you at present:
            You can take advantage of our free subscription, obtaining access to your previously purchased productions as well as our entire catalogue
            You don’t take advantage of our free subscription, and we can manually apply the previous purchases to your account.
            This process has been in place since the transition to the new site, and will remain in place for the foreseeable future, to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to decide their favoured approach to viewing our productions.
            Any customer that has previously purchased a production and would prefer not to take advantage of our subscription offer, please let me know and our support team will arrange for a free long-term rental of the production you purchased to be loaded to your account.
            Please let me know if you have any further difficulties.”
            I still haven’t had the opportunity to reset and check…

            Liked by 1 person

            Reply

    2. Same here. Sending me to a page to enter a new password, after being verified, where I have to enter the password I don’t remember? Seriously??? And now, I can’t access the support tickets site, after being verified (and receiving an email stating so). All I get is {“error”:”Couldn’t authenticate you”}. Authenticate THIS, Digital Theatre!!! *grrrrrrr*

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  5. Don’t get me started … 5 emails, 3 for password resets, and not a peep beyond the automated responses (which were of no use). The two ticket numbers I have are 18591 and 18695.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. I teceived a personalized response today but without any further information beyond their automated posts. (My number is #18613 btw… ) Very unsatisfying! The answer is:
    “We’d like to clarify the position for prior purchasers of productions on digitaltheatre.com.

    It was never our intention to deny you access to productions that you have already paid for. For customers who have previously purchased productions with us there are currently two options available for you at present:

    You can take advantage of our free subscription, obtaining access to your previously purchased productions as well as our entire catalogue
    You don’t take advantage of our free subscription, and we can manually apply the previous purchases to your account

    This process has been in place since the transition to the new site, and will remain in place for the foreseeable future, to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to decide their favoured approach to viewing our productions.

    Any customer that has previously purchased a production and would prefer not to take advantage of our subscription offer, please let me know and our support team will arrange for a free long-term rental of the production you purchased to be loaded to your account.

    Once again, we would like to apologise for any confusion or frustration caused. ”

    I think it’s impudent to offer long-term rentals and I told them so. I want to watch my downloads on my device- either I get a new download in a widely used data format or I want my money back.
    Really curious if or how they will react.
    Such an annoying way of treating consumers!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
      1. Servetus

        What our fellow fan dug out about their balance sheet suggests the company must be near insolvent — I wonder if they even have as many as two employees.

        Like

        Reply

  8. Reblogged this on nellindreams and commented:
    Auch ich habe bei Digital Theatre eingekauft, und zwar mehr als nur #TheCrucible mit #RichardArmitage. Auch “Much Ado about nothing” mit #DavidTennant und #CatherineTate liegt mur sehr am Herzen. Es wäre schön, wenn Digital Theatre eine zufriedenstellende Lösung für alle betroffenen Kunden finden würde! Langzeitmiete ist eigentlich keine Alternative für etwas, das man mal gekauft hat…

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. Pingback: @DigitalTheatre puts customers in an infinite loop #richardarmitage | Me + Richard Armitage

  10. sparkhouse1

    I emailed twice with no response other than the automated reply. So then I tweeted and got a response – probably because I used their name and #badbusiness. They of course told me to “be patient while they work through” blah blah blah. I feel they stole from me and owe me a refund. Nothing less. I do not want to subscribe, even if it’s supposedly free.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. So #badbusiness gets a response, eh? Maybe I’ll use that the next time!

      Yeah, I do not want subscribe to them either anymore. I can log on to their site and the only thing I see is their request for my credit card details. No way! I want what’s mine, refund would be the last option for me.

      Like

      Reply
  11. Mezz

    At the start of this whole sorry saga, I managed to get through to the “new” DT home page. When I tried to log in, it asked me for a new password, I put my old one in, confirmed it and away I went. I can still access and play the contents of my library. I haven’t responded to the email request to activate my account, nor have I supplied my credit card details, so I have no idea where I stand with them. Do I have the free 6 month membership? Who knows! I will certainly be keeping a close watch on my credit card account just in case they do have my details from previous purchases. It’s not just The Crucible I stand to lose, I have purchased other plays and a ballet.
    On top of the loss of “forever” access, and the way DT are treating their customers, I reckon they have a nerve charging £7.99 per month to choose from – currently- just 54 productions.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Yeah, I won’t give my credit card details either. I can log in and see trailers of all the plays but I can’t access my library or see my purchase history.
      OMG, it’s only 54 productions for THAT price?! I hadn’t realized! You’re right, that is totally ridiculous!

      Like

      Reply
  12. Servetus

    For anyone who hasn’t been able to reset their password b/c of lacking the old one — I discovered this week in other circumstances that the place where the browser stores the passwords can also make them visible, i.e., if you stored your pw in your browser you may be able to recover it yourself.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Thanks! Just checked for myself and it’s all there. 🙂

      * In Mozilla Firefox (that’s the browser I use) go to settings (top right in the browser) > Click Options wheel > Security > Logins > Saved Logins > Show passwords

      * In Internet Explorer go to settings wheel (top right in the browser) > Internet Options > Content tab > AutoComplete Settings > Password management

      * In Google Chrome go to settings (top right in browser) > Advanced > Passwords and forms

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  13. I emailed DT as well, my only receiving the auto reply. But you have to start somewhere. Let’s hope that with enough people wanting access to their past Digital Theatre purchases–including customers beyond the RA fan base–that DT will take stock and realize that making customers happy gets you more customers.

    Like

    Reply
  15. Servetus

    She also said she replied to them the second she saw the email. So I think we’re looking at minimum 3 week response time from whenever anyone complained the first time.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  16. I hade another mail exchange yesterday.
    I still haven’t received the verification mail that is necessary to use my account again but at least I had the impression that they try to fix things……

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  17. Pingback: @DigitalTheatre now seems to be responding to customers #richardarmitage | Me + Richard Armitage

  18. Pingback: @DigitalTheatre now seems to be responding to customers #richardarmitage | Me + Richard Armitage

  19. I had my access restored to The Crucible yesterday. In the email exchange, I asked what “long-term rental” meant and was told “Previously purchased productions are being added until 2025 at which point they will be automatically renewed.”

    I’m not sure which happened first … As others had done, I’d written emails to the DT support desk and received absolutely no response. I happened to see @DTHelp twitter account on Monday when I was looking to see if DT had responded to a tweet I sent last week, so I sent them a tweet asking if they were ever going to respond to questions about purchased productions and password resets sent three weeks earlier. Yesterday morning, @DTHelp responded to my tweet asking me to DM my email address to them “so we can get in touch.” I sent it, and about 5 minutes later I received an email. That started the ball rolling, and about two hours and 8 emails later, I had access to The Crucible, my DT account had been reset and I had the answer to the “long-term rental” question we all were asking.

    The Interview video isn’t available yet, but will be as they are working on restoring certain productions as soon as possible.

    The download issue hasn’t been resolved. Yet. I think that may be another battle. For another day.

    If you don’t hear anything soon, I’d suggest going to Twitter and sending a tweet to @DTHelp. I noticed yesterday that there were a few others that had received the same message I did.

    Hope this helps.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  20. Pingback: A Crucible decade ahead of me | The Book of Esther

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.