The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint about a theatre performance which used offensive language. This is because Mrs B has not suffered a significant injustice which would justify an investigation.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will refer to as Mrs B, complains about a theatre production she attended at a Council theatre. Mrs B says when she booked tickets there were no warnings about the offensive language used within the performance. Mrs B says she and her husband left the performance early because of the offensive language. Mrs B says although the Council has said it will strengthen its processes for future events, it has not responded to her request for a full or partial refund of the £93 she paid for two tickets.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide: any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mrs B.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Our role is to consider complaints where the person bringing the complaint has suffered significant personal injustice as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the organisation. This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures.
Mrs B would like a full or partial refund of the money she spent on tickets for this performance. But, I find Mrs B has not suffered a serious or significant injustice which would justify an investigation or the pursuit of a financial remedy by the Ombudsman. So, we will not investigate this complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint because she has not suffered a significant injustice which would justify an investigation by the Ombudsman.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman