The Box Office Explained

The Wharton Center Box Office is the in-house ticketing operation for all events held at the Wharton Center (Great Hall and Pasant Theatre) and the MSU Auditorium (Concert Auditorium and Fairchild Theatre). The Wharton Center Box Office is the one-stop shop for all events presented or held under the Wharton Center banner. The Wharton Center Box Office accepts Visa, Master Card, Discover and American Express for ticket and gift certificate purchases.

Auditorium and Fairchild Events

There are box offices located in the lobby of the Auditorium and of the Fairchild Theatre. Depending where the event is located, the appropriate box office will be open 1 hour prior to the event and will remain open 1/2 hour past the start time of the event. All questions and sales will be handled at the Wharton Center box office until 1 hour prior to the Auditorium or Fairchild event.

By Phone

Call the Box Office 517-432-2000 or toll free at 1-800-WHARTON (942-7866)
Monday - Friday 10am-6pm and Saturday 12noon-6pm. Please call the Box office for summer hours.

By Email

wharton@msu.edu

In Person

Monday - Friday 10am-6pm and Saturday Noon-6pm. The Box Office is located in Wharton Center's lobby on Bogue Street between Shaw Lane and Wilson Road. On show nights the Box Office will stay open 1/2 hour past start time.

**On Sundays with performances, the Box Office will open 2 hours prior to the performance and will remain open 1/2 hour past start time.

Please call the Box office for summer hours.

4 Ways to Buy Tickets

1. Pick your seat

Using the same "real time" seating map that we do here in the Box Office, patrons can choose their own seats at whartoncenter.com's online Box Office. This is the only true way to actually pick your own seat in your favorite row or section. Use this real time industry leading tool to find the perfect seat for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can pick them up here or we can mail them to you (free of charge), it's your choice. There is a per ticket fee for this option.

2. Speak with an experienced representative

If you don't like the Internet, or you just want to speak to someone who knows the theatre, you can call us toll free at 1-800-WHARTON and let one of our operators help you with your purchase. All of our operators have attended performances in each of the 4 theatres that we service. We know our theatres! The call center is open Monday - Friday from 10am-6pm and 12pm-6pm on Saturdays. You can pick them up here or we can mail them to you (free of charge), it's your choice. There is a per-order charge for this option.

3. Pay us a visit

If you want some face-to-face service, you can visit us at the Box Office (located in the main lobby of the Wharton Center, on Bogue Street between Shaw Lane and Wilson Road.) Regular box office hours are 10am-6pm Monday-Friday and 12pm-6pm on Saturdays. There is no charge for this option.

4. Group sales

• Save 10% or more
• Order by Phone
• Easy Payment Plan
• Priority Seating
• Personalized Service
• Free Bus Parking
• Special Corporate Group Discounts Available
• Special Student Group Discounts for Broadway Available

Call (517) 884-3120 or 1-800-WHARTON and ask for the Group Sales Dept. to learn more.

Purchase Limits

Yes. When purchasing tickets from Wharton Center, you are limited to a specific number of tickets for each event. This limit is included on the unique event page and is verified with every transaction. This policy is in effect to discourage unfair ticket buying practices and reselling. Ticket limits vary depending on the event or the anticipated demand for the event.

Gift Certificates

Gift Certificates can be purchased over the phone or at the Box Office window. Gift Certificates can only be redeemed at the Box Office window. Unfortunately the Wharton Center Box Office cannot hold tickets unpaid until the Gift Certificate is presented. In addition, tickets purchased on the Internet with credit card cannot be "reversed" by crediting the charge card and using the Gift Certificate after the sale.

There are two methods of receiving tickets:

Have your tickets mailed.

If you select MAIL as the delivery method on-line your tickets will be mailed to you the next business day via U.S postal mail. Tickets usually arrive within 5-7 business days of your order. If you are ordering tickets within 7 days of the selected event, your tickets will be held at the Box Office for pick-up the next business day up to the night of the show. For pick-up the night of show, go to the "Will Call" window. At Wharton Center the "Will Call" window is the left most box office window with the red "Will Call" sign. At the Auditorium the Will Call pick up is located at the windows on the right side (south side) of the Auditorium lobby. At the Fairchild Theatre the right (south) ticket window is for Will Call pick up. All Will Call windows will be clearly marked. There is no cost for having your tickets mailed to you.

Pick up your tickets at "Will Call"

Will Call is offered when standard U.S postal mail is no longer available, this is typically 7 business days prior to the selected event or if we are holding student discounted tickets for student ID verification. To pick up your tickets night of show, visit the Box Office in the venue where the event is taking place. This could be the Wharton Center Box Office, Auditorium Box Office (1 hour prior) or the Fairchild Theatre Box Office (1 hour prior). All tickets regardless of venue will be available at the Wharton Center Box Office until 1 hour prior to the event.

Ticket Face Value

The face value is the actual advertised cost of the ticket. Ticket prices are determined by the presenter, promoter or artist directly. The Wharton Center Box Office does not determine ticket prices. The revenue generated by the face-value either goes to the promoter or artist directly or goes to the presenter to cover the expenses of the event.

Restoration Fee

There is a $2.50 per ticket restoration fee assessed to every ticket purchased to an event held at any of the four Wharton Center venues regardless of where or how the ticket is purchased. Unlike the face value, revenues generated by the restoration fee go right back into the building where the event was held. The restoration fee directly funds building maintenance, general upkeep and improvements. The restoration is in addition to any Internet, Phone, or Group method fee.

Internet Service Fees

At the Wharton Center Box Office we want your ability to purchase tickets to be simple, easy and convenient. The Internet Service Fee covers costs that allow the Wharton Center Box Office to provide the latest Internet ticketing technology, that allows you to select your own seat, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from the comfort of your home or office. The Internet Service Fees are based on the face value of the ticket as follows.

Phone Processing Fee

Because we still believe in live customer service representatives, the Wharton Center Box Office has a MSU student staffed call center. A $7.00 phone processing fee is assessed on a per-order basis regardless of the number of tickets or number of performances purchased. The $7.00 per order fee goes right back to the call center for operating costs.

Group Sales Order Fee

There is a $7.00 per-order-fee for all group sales orders of 20 or more

As soon as Wharton Center is notified of a cancelled event by an artist or an artist representative, we immediately notify all original ticket purchasers by U.S. Mail (time permitting.) For events that are cancelled and NOT rescheduled, you may not have to return the tickets and the refund is usually processed by the method of payment you originally used. Refunds will be issued to the patron who purchased the ticket, which may not be the actual ticket holder. If an event is rescheduled, you will have the option of receiving a refund or getting tickets to the rescheduled date. In both cases, you will need to return tickets to the Box Office in order to finalize the transaction. When an event cancels or reschedules, it is always best to keep your tickets until you actually receive the refund or new tickets. Your ticket is your receipt. In some rare cases, Ticket-Master sells a limited number of tickets to some events. Refunds or rescheduled exchanges can only be processed at the point of purchase. We cannot refund or exchange tickets purchased through Ticket-Master

If your tickets are lost or stolen, please contact the Wharton Center Box office by phone
(1-800-WHARTON) immediately. In most cases, we can issue a "seat voucher" for the seats that you originally purchased. For security purposes, we cannot mail or reissue "seat vouchers." Seat Vouchers over-ride regular tickets if both were to show up the night of the event.

All sales are final and non-refundable. However, if you have tickets to an event that has multiple performances AND the performance that you have tickets for has not passed, you can exchange them for another performance on a different date or time.

For example, you can exchange your Mamma Mia tickets for a Saturday performance to a Tuesday performance.

You cannot exchange your Mamma Mia tickets for Wicked tickets.

We can only do this if we have the original ticket at the time of exchange. Exchanges can only happen at the Box Office windows. We cannot hold tickets for an exchange. There is no charge for exchanges.

The Wharton Center Box Office collects contact information from all patrons to ensure the highest quality customer service and communication. We use this information for 3 basic purposes:

1. Mailing tickets, season brochures and new show announcements.
2. Our credit card processor requires that the street numbers and zip code of the credit card being used matches the billing address of that card for security purposes.
3. If important information regarding a show that you purchased presents itself
   (e.g., cancellations, rescheduling, etc.), we want to communicate that to you as soon as we can.

Wharton Center Box does not share its customer information.