Over the weekend I had a bad experience in a museum. This is the second time this has happened, clearly I must look like a rapscallion who doesn’t know how to behave in museums. You can read what happened the first time here. This time was in the Wallace Collection. Which is beautiful. You should go. I am hoping my experience was a one off, put simply I was told off by an attendant because I had a bag. The museum attendant felt that I needed to be told that the furniture on display was important/expensive/delicate and my bag could cause damage to them. For context, I know how to behave in a museum; it was a shoulder bag, on my shoulder. Not swinging widely, it was by my side, I was with my parents, my Mam and I were discussing an object in the collection whilst walking from one gallery to the next, I was not near any objects and I repeat my bag was under control – not that my bag could ever be out of control. It’s a bag. I can only assume that the museum attendant was having a bad day, and made a snap judgement that because I am young, I mustn’t understand how a museum works and that I would appreciate being told how to behave.
When this event occurred, I got angry and upset. I could not help thinking what if that experience had happened to a first time visitor to a museum, it could put them off coming to museums all together. Adhering to the old fashioned stereotypical view that museums are elitist, arrogant and not for the ‘likes of you’. So what did I do? I tweeted.
I received instant feedback from people who work in the museum world, who were just as disappointed as I was (I hope that I am not taking their name in vain there). It felt great to get that instant feedback, that sense of community that I wasn’t alone. And then today, I received a tweet from the Wallace Collection apologising for that experience and asking for feedback on how they could improve.
WallaceMuseum @clairey_ross We are sorry you didn’t have a good experience, please let us know what can be improved as we really value our visitors.
Brilliant! I felt empowered, I now know that they do value their visitors, it was just a one off, and they really want visitor feedback.
And that is why it’s so important for museums to be monitoring social media, particularly Twitter and now foursquare. People are leaving comments, instantly whilst still in the museum, the majority are positive. But on the off chance that one or two are negative, museums can reach out, get in contact and try and change people’s experiences for the better.
Claire Bailey-Ross 
Had a really bad experience at the Museum of London on Sunday. Went with partner, her 6 year old, and my two boys (almost 3 and 6 years old). Got told off over 5 times during our visit. 3 worst tellings off:
1. Lifting up 2 year old to see demonstration exhibit made of sliding plastic as too high for him to see – Staff comes and tells us off for “climbing on exhibits” – it was an interactive but of plastic meant to be shunted around and it’s not even an artefact and my 2 year can’t look!
2. My 6 year enters almost empty gallery (is Sunday morning). He sees lots of exciting things so goes roaming, trotting from one glass case to another. I stop to look at a glass case, next thing I know I turn to find adult staff member looming over my boy who is huddled on ground whilst staff member wags finger at him and tells him not run. My boy has shunk himself as small as possible.
I challenge staff member and say she is being rude to my child. She is very huffy and not impressed – so I express my views about museums as places of enjoyment, freedom and enlightenment and that there was no one else to be disturbed by his trotting. She stalks off obviously furious at my cheek in confronting her. She later brings other staff with her to check us out – I stare them down and as the boys are quietly playing on the PC’s they leave us alone.
3. Then a bit of madness – we go to cafe – its 2 floors down. So we use lift. I go to get in after my partner and the boys and this lady staff member bustles up: “can i help you” me: “we are headed for the cafe” her: “oh OK, but you shouldn’t use that lift, you should use that one” points to identical lift on opposing wall Me: “ok, didn’t know we shouldn’t use this one” looks for any sign or otherwise indicating non-use of lift. Her “well as you are all in it I suppose you should go ahead and use it”. Me “you sure, I wouldn’t want to use the wrong thing”. Her “yes, off you go, you can use that one this time”.
We use lift. We sit in cafe – we observe several other people using said lift, we observe no signs saying shouldn’t use lift we get no explanation why lift is not in use…
It was bizarre experience and the Museum of London has totally lost my custom – I will not take my children there again until they are much much older.
I have written to the museum and am twittering about it. We’ll see what happens!
In follow up I was contacted by Graham Stratfold
Head of Visitor Services Museum of London.
He was really helpful, constructive and really listened to my concerns. They are looking into the issues now.
The lift thing was just that one lifts goes up and down and the one we were in only goes down. So that can be put down to a mis-understanding and poor communication. Not a big deal that one.
The other issues are more serious and I feel that my viewpoints were supported by the Museum. I think my boys behaviour was fine and the Museum seem to think so as well.
They have invited us back and offered to show us they are a family oriented museum – I may take them up on this offer.
I think Clairey’s blog point that complaining is worth doing has been proved correct. And the museum’s themselves also appreciate being able to talk these things through to improve their services and visitor experience.
Simon