11am ride openings - legal? fair?

[Ben]

Im aware this could fit into the general 2015 Cuts topic but this is regarding the 11am openings only.

So as I understand it now, Towers are choosing to not open:
Dark Forest (in all its well themed glory)
Cloud Cuckoo Land
The Towers
Hex
(and guessing Sky Ride station too) until 11am.

These staggered openings on such a large scale are something Ive not seen since Flamingo Land in the early 2000s. We are taking a huge area of the park here, 2 headline coasters, one of the biggest family areas and the actual towers themselves.

Now, as I understand it Trading Standards say that as a consumer we should get products (including leisure activities which this falls under) 'as described'. Which is a rather broad statement, but lets look at AltonTowers.com the main place a visitor for Alton Towers would look.
There is no clear statement to say the park will choose to not open their attractions every day until they want to, whether that is a set time or not. Individual attraction pages do not indicate late openings. The calendar page does not show late openings.
Are Alton Towers actively deceiving their consumers? Absolutely.

There is a section in the FAQ that states 'Rides and attractions at Alton Towers Resort are subject to availability and may close for technical or operational reasons, capacity, inclement weather, special events or to ensure the safety and security of guests or if Merlin reasonably considers the circumstances so require' - which for the majority of the past 20+ years of running as a theme park has only regarded ride closures for breakdowns etc.
So while in principal Alton Towers have got an amount of 'wiggle room' to say they can open and close what they want as and when they want, to blanket enforce this rule for a large section of the park every day, while not making their guests aware is poor. Very poor.

As a side point, I thought (tho I may be wrong) that The Towers had to be accessible to guests for a certain amount of time a season as dictated by English Heritage, I wonder if they are aware and have agreed this decision too.

I do think it would make for an interesting case, should it be investigated. Alton Towers are selling their theme park as a product to a guest, who buys a ticket upon entry, and then finds a large section is not being offered to them for the duration their ticket is valid.
I think Towers could find themselves in abit of trouble for this. Anyone have any better consumer knowledge than me?

 

[Coaster]

I'm not sure if any legal action can be taken against them, but it doesn't mean that it's not wrong. It's frankly dire, this means that Alton is now the worst park in the UK for staggered openings, and I thought that some others were bad! Opening with 15 rides closed is not acceptable, Merlin need to get their act together as all three of their parks are going rapidly downhill at the moment.

 

[Ben]

Oh I know how rubbish it is.
Im just surprised they are allowed to be so deceitful in their actions. Its like going to the cinema but them only showing the end of the film, because 'guest feedback is that the ending is the most important bit'

 

[Coaster]

Oh I know how rubbish it is.
Im just surprised they are allowed to be so deceitful in their actions. Its like going to the cinema but them only showing the end of the film, because 'guest feedback is that the ending is the most important bit'

I think they could and should get in trouble for not informing people however, there should be signs up at the entrance and it should be stated on the website, as with a park that size if you walk over to Dark Forest at 10am and it's closed you have wasted time, as well as missing getting on a ride before the queues build.

 

[joelpagett]

I personally think its bad, considering you get small parks like Paultons Park and Lightwater Valley that open all their rides with park opening, why stagger it? It may save some money on staff but you also have to think of the staff that are now getting paid even less to operate their rides!

 

[Coaster]

I personally think its bad, considering you get small parks like Paultons Park and Lightwater Valley that open all their rides with park opening, why stagger it? It may save some money on staff but you also have to think of the staff that are now getting paid even less to operate their rides!

The reason is that parks like Paulton's and Lightwater actually have some consideration towards their customers. With Alton Towers (and Merlin's parks in general) it's all about trying to get as much money as possible, as they know that people will visit anyway, hence why they are making these cut-backs when they really don't need to! It's not good enough, and what with this and the removal of the SRQ's I have little interest in visiting Alton until they sort themselves out!

 

[bluesonichd]

I think it should be advertised better, maybe at park entrance that certain areas will be open lattre than usuall, I guess its another thing to consider that if you attend on a quite day things will be open latter. and the areas open latter, HEX dark forrest, is it really that big a loss

 

[Ben]

Its 2 headline coasters and the biggest family area on the park. Id call that a significant loss.

 

[bluesonichd]

yea I see your point if you like rita n 13 or have kids its a bit iffy
I always start a day in forbiden vally so no loss for me. Now if they opend that late I would be well pished about it

 

[Ben]

We're wandering off topic here, but by Rita and 13 being closed the thrill seeking guests will have to be somewhere else, quite probably in Forbidden Valley - so it will impact on your day with longer queues there.
Plus let's not forget Air doesn't have full ERT anymore so there will be more demand / queues there.

Anyway back to topic, I could do with looking at the Advertising Standards

 

[Croftybaby]

If Cbeebies is 'full' then where do Alton Towers expect young families to take their little ones until 12 apart from sharkbait grief?

I'm not really that interested in fighting as i've pretty much washed my hands with this place but I expect the legal wording is meant to be used for unexpected events causing ride closures. These current closures are forecastable and as such potential customers should be given this information in order for them to make a balanced decision before purchasing a ticket. Having it displayed at the front isn't really suitable either as people travel long distances. I'd be quite miffed setting off for Towers very early in the morning knowing that i could have spent longer in bed as the rides don't open until 11/12 .

They just seem to have a total disregard for any customer satisfaction.

 

[Ben]

Think Ive found what I was looking for

The ASA who cover advertising on websites state (for the purpose of this they consider websites as ads)

The rules are very clear: ads should not contain anything that‟s likely to mislead. In particular we‟re talking about ads or claims that make a consumer act differently, in a way they wouldn‟t have done if they hadn‟t been misled.
In summary, the rules state that ads must not mislead by:
Omitting material information
Hiding information or presenting information in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner
Exaggerating the capability or performance of a product
Making factual claims if an advertiser doesn‟t hold documentary evidence to prove them
Exaggerating the availability of stock or failing to estimate demand for the advertised product[/I]

So unless they clearly advertise that a large amount of rides and attractions are not available, intentionally, and its neither listed on the main pages of AltonTowers.com, the Opening Hours pages or individual ride pages - they are breaking the ASA rules.

Gonna pop a complaint in and see where I get.

 

[DiogoJ42]

On facebook, Towers replied to a complaint with this diatribe:

Research shows that the water based rides and areas such as the Dark Forest are simply not used as frequently in the mornings so we have decided to open them later as a result. Variable opening and closing times are nothing new; it’s something that we’ve done for many years without any impact on our over guests’ experience, and the majority of the rides are still open from 10am.

I'm pretty sure research will show that car airbags are "simply not used frequently". Shall we stop fitting them to save money?

 

[Ted]

Dark Forest isn't as busy as the others because it's on the other side of the park. Of course not many people are going to venture there when they can go into x sector or Forbidden Valley which are closer.

 

[bluesonichd]

On facebook, Towers replied to a complaint with this diatribe:

Research shows that the water based rides and areas such as the Dark Forest are simply not used as frequently in the mornings so we have decided to open them later as a result. Variable opening and closing times are nothing new; it’s something that we’ve done for many years without any impact on our over guests’ experience, and the majority of the rides are still open from 10am.

I'm pretty sure research will show that car airbags are "simply not used frequently". Shall we stop fitting them to save money?

So its all our fault for not using it as much,

 

[Coaster]

That's no excuse, just because an area isn't packed from the opening that is not a valid excuse to close it. Rita nearly always had a crowd of people waiting for it to open, as did Thirteen so they are talking utter tripe with this.
There's no covering up the fact that these are cuts, and I'm not sure why they are even necessary considering how much money the park makes.

 

[GaryH]

Sorry but the amount of people trying to get into Dark Forest yesterday disagrees with your assumption Merlin.

And the majority of people went to x sector where the smiler already has large queries and oblivion was running at 50% capacity. Great decision there you idiots.

I'm just so so glad I haven't renewed my pass this year!

 

[James]

Thing is the areas are still used. So just because they are quieter areas does not mean that can be used as a valid excuse to close them completely. It's a theme park you pay £25 (at least) to have access to all rides fgs. It's laughable they are even bothering to reply to people with that excuse, may as well just stay silent, talking ain't going to fix the negativity against these cuts.

They should at least have all this advertised on the website and on park. Alton Towers is such a large park you will get a lot of guests walking over to DF/CCL and being turned around, wasting their time and probably annoying them because they've walked over there for no reason, not the greatest way to start your magical day.

If they operate like this come Scarefest god help them.

 

[Slugjc]

I can see the logic. But I don't like execution.

First of all I can see why they have done it. The huge amount people on this website would not bother running down towersstreet, Past the house, past her ladyships garden (Gigerty) and on to Rita/thirteen/13/th13teen (however people want it do be spelt.) Im guessing as well that the queue at the other attractions has made them think hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm a queue there and there queue here, but no queue dark forest. (Light Bulb) lets close DF till 11 until people actually do want to go. I can see why.

However this does not make it right. I don't agree with the legal customer, trading, advertising, standards stuff that started this thread. Im sure they have a loop hole somewhere to cover there Merlin Bums. But I don't actually like starting at FV or XS. I like to wait and go back to those later. I personally like to start on Rita and thirteen. Because no bugger else is there and after a drive/sleep Rita is a good wake up. Thirteen is a steady way to get some adrenaline flowing.



No this is not fair. Maybe 2015 will be no towers year for me.

 

[Tom]

There's nothing illegal about it, but it comes down to how much you want to stand for.

I haven't visited since October 2013, but I will be returning next weekend. Simply go less and appreciate what else is out there.