Before I started to get too angry (well, maybe ten seconds afterwards), the very nice and helpful ticket assistant told me they were going to do everything they could to get me another ticket and, as I know that more tickets readily become available, even for the most popular films, during the run-up to the festival, I was fairly confident I would still get my ticket. This isn't quite the point, however; I don't mind when LoFiFest films are sold out but I do mind when I book a ticket, get the confirmation email and then get told that a seat hasn't been allocated for me.
The problem, it seems, was that the tickets that became available on Thursday were supposed to be reserved for Amex card holders (see the above photo of an ad in Saturday's Grauniad, which rubbed some more salt into my sore wounds) but the website didn't reflect this. As of today, I do have a confirmed ticket for the gala screening of The Ides of March and I'm very grateful to the BFI for sorting this out; I just wish they hadn't needed to sort anything out.
Dear BFI,
You have the same website problems every year during London Film Festival season and this year seems to be worse than ever. Please fix it!
Love,
Bex
