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Merlin Annual Pass 'Sale'

Thanking you.

Decided not to renewal my premium pass this year - going to get an AT pass at the "RENEWAL" price!
 
I'd love to know the numbers of passes sold in the "sale" year on year.

This year I've had tons of emails regarding it, sale now on, don't forget our sale, 1 week left, 48 hours left. Then another one just now "sale ends today"

They also seem to be pushing the individual parks to push them out several times over this year too.

It would appear that maybe... just maybe, they aren't selling as many as they'd hoped! :-D
 
I am going to count how many emails I have received from them later advertising this sale...
 
Wow, that is a lot. Obviously it doesn’t cost anything to send an email, so they could email you every minute if they wanted to and it wouldn’t cost them anything. But to me that’s bordering on spam. I know Merlin like ‘free exposure’, but if people get too many emails they’ll start sending them to the ‘junk mail’ folder, or unsubscribe altogether (if that’s an option). The 'goose that lays golden eggs' comes to mind.
 
I too have been flooded with emails. You don't mind the odd one saying how long is left but it has been quite ridiculous. The emails themselves are incredibly patronising also.

:)
 
Well i didnt renew - Merlin can get screwed this year for all I care.

I had an interesting reply from them on Facebook as well which reads:

"Just to confirm in the promotion of the Merlin Annual Pass Sale previous prices stated are for new pass purchases, not for pass renewals. Price comparisons are therefore against market prices (‘general pricing’ or the ‘was price’) for new Merlin Annual Passes in place since October. In the case of renewals because we had held down renewal prices, the comparison is with our current market prices (our RRP or ‘listed price’, as applying in retail). Although this is generally accepted practice, unfortunately this has been confusing for customers. We are sorry to hear you will not be renewing your Merlin Annual Passes this year."

In other words, the sale is for new customers really, and sod those loyal customers who are renewing. To me, it also suggests that there is the prospect of renewal prices being cheaper at some point as they have specifically highlighted the fact that the fake sale was for new passes,, not renewals.
 
Second year I haven't got a pass (despite the offer of half price from a friend who works for Merlin).
Nothing new and worth seeing at any of the parks this year. Might go to Towers for the fireworks or might do Disneyland Paris.
After 10 years of annual passes for Tussauds/Merlin I think I overdid their attractions and need to try something new. I've still never made it up to Lightwater Valley.
 
I would love to know how well they have sold, by the amount of emails everyone has had I would say not very well. Last year I am sure I may have got one or two around New Years and that's it. This year its every few days. And not just from Merlin but from the like of Thorpe and Towers (with the same information!).

Will be interesting to see if they take on any feedback for next years sale if they do one.
 
I think if they dont take on board the very vocal feedback from this years marketing disaster then they are fools.
 
They haven't got anything new to focus their marketing attention on this year, and they know it, so without a hook so get people coming back they've literally resorted to begging via e-mail spam.

Sad.
 
nadroJ said:
They haven't got anything new to focus their marketing attention on this year, and they know it, so without a hook so get people coming back they've literally resorted to begging via e-mail spam.

Sad.
Click to expand...

There is Star Wars at Madame Tussauds, or didn't you get five emails all about that announcement?
 
Lol! I think after the 18th time of reading it my mind has taken precautions and began blocking it out!
 
So the ASA have given their ruling following on from their investigation to Merlin's annual pass sale:
Insider Media said:
A series of complaints against Merlin Entertainments Group, the Poole-headquartered operator of Alton Towers, LegoLand and Madame Tussauds, over the advertising of its annual passes have been upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
The ASA received 22 complaints, covering five issues, about four adverts that appeared in emails and on the company's website in December 2014.
Two of the adverts, an email and webpage from 22 December, targeted existing pass holders reminding them that the passes ran out at the end of the year and offering reduced prices to renew.
The other two, from 26 December, targeted new and existing customers listing sale prices for passes, with the full prices crossed out.
The complainants challenged whether the adverts were misleading as the 22 December email suggested recipients had 14 days to renew their pass and qualify for the advertised prices, while the claim on the webpage stating the claim "Prices frozen for 2014" implied the prices advertised would be available for the remainder of 2014.
From 26 December 2014, pass holders found that the renewal price had gone up.
Complainants also challenged whether the claims in the adverts from 26 December were misleading because they were based on a price that did not reflect those at which the products were previously sold, and that the claim "the year's lowest prices" was misleading, because the same product had been available at a lower price earlier in the year.
Merlin responded saying the 14-day renewal period referred exclusively to the length of time remaining on the pass, not to the time the discount was available and that it had asked its agency to remove the claim "Prices frozen for 2014" from the website but this had not been done before 19 December.
Regarding the 26 December adverts, it said that the terms and conditions at the foot of ad stated "Savings are based on full UK walk-up price". It added that these adverts clearly referred to pricing in 2015.
The ASA upheld the first four issues as it considered that consumers reading the 22 December adverts would believe that the prices represented Merlin's standard renewal prices and would not be subject to increases in the coming weeks.
It added that consumers reading the 26 December adverts ad would believe that the crossed out prices represented the price at which they were usually sold and that that Merlin had not demonstrated that the implied savings claims were genuine.
It did not uphold a fifth complaint as it judged that the advert referred to prices available in 2015 and was not misleading.
The ASA ruled that ads must not appear again in their current form.
It told Merlin to ensure it "held sufficient evidence to substantiate its marketing claims, that it did not misleadingly imply that its prices were valid for a longer period of time than they were, and to ensure its savings claims were accurate and reflected a genuine saving".
Click to expand...

Click here to see the full ASA ruling.

Pleasing to see this but a pity that no serious action was taken. I'd imagine another breach would lead to further action. Let's hope we get no more sales whereby the sale price is actually an incease!

:)
 
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