Annual pass renewal farce

[IanSR]

They did however state that I was the first person to ever bring this problem up. I guess somebody has to be first, but Im amazed that given the oversight on timings of the sales with renewal and collection windows I am the first person to experience this.

Maybe you're first because at other parks they apply common sense? Or maybe it's because other people don't think to complain directly to the CEO's office. Last year I was the first to complain about the way the bag checks were being done, yet there were tons of people in the RBO complaining, I must have been the only one to email Varney about it.

This is Legoland though and I know they do thing differently down there, so maybe they have a different procedure for it.

 

[Romeo]

I'd like to chime in and provide my own story here.

A couple of weeks ago, I had 5 physical Gift Vouchers, each for 1 x Adult Premium Merlin Annual Pass. I took them to an attraction, walked up to the desk, and told them I wanted to extend my current pass. The guy took my current pass, expiring in February 2019, and added 12 months from the expiry date on my pass. I now have a Premium Merlin Annual Pass, expiring in February 2020.
If I had wanted to, I could have added all 5 Gift Vouchers onto my current pass, without issues, for the next 5 years.

I did speak to Merlin online prior to my visit, and asked the same question - Can I add on time to my current pass without losing anything. They cited their T&C's and told me no. Clearly, this isn't the case, as can be seen here.

Once again, it's a case of Merlin HQ saying one thing, and the actual front line staff doing another thing. Their rules are inconsistent!

 

[Alsty]

The thing is, the terms and conditions on this subject are non-existent. I find that incredible for a company like Merlin.

I read through them expecting it to explain what a renewal is, how it works, who's eligible and what the restrictions are but found nothing. It's no wonder every member of staff has their own opinion.

It could be a legal minefield for Merlin if you had the mindset to go to court on the matter.

Edit: link to T&Cs for anyone who wants to check for themselves

 

[AT86]

It’s fine if you renew your pass early and are staying at the same level of pass. They can reprint your pass and amend the expiry date.

The problem comes if you want to upgrade from standard to premium early. They can’t print you a premium pass and just extend the expiry date because you would then effectively get the premium benefits for the remainder of your standard pass.

 

[Laura91]

I upgraded my Alton annual pass ( valid until the end of this season) to a premium Merlin pass in September and she gave us the extra two months so our pmap expire in November 2019.