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Merlin Annual Pass 'Sale'

A product must have been on sale for a higher price before it can be put on sale. Additionally,if the product was at a higher price for 30 days, then the sale price cannot last for more than 30 days.

Watch tv adverts and you'll see it has to show the dates the item was sold at a higher price.

There may be some work arounds with regards on line stuff and things like entertainment passes, but there is no doubt this isn't a sale, it's a price fix, with emphasis on the word 'fix'

I've done it and I know others on Facebook have, and I urge others to do so as well because the only way Merlin will listen is through some bad publicity. Fill in this short form before and get BBC Watchdog involved.

I'm seriously debating renewing my pass next year, it's not the cost as such but the principle and the sneaky underhand tactics Merlin have used which have totally destroyed any feeling I had off being a valued loyal customer (not that I had much feeling of that anyway).

Absolutely disgusted.

https://ssl.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mg74/contact
 
I think they may have reached a point where there are too many AP holders visiting too often and they aren't actually generating enough revenue compared to the number of visits, hence higher prices. As AstroDan said, £150 isn't bad value for the number of attractions compared to many places where you only get one park for that.

The Shrek thing is understandable and given it is a new attraction you would still be getting the attractions you paid for with the pass. They did a similar thing to restrict visitor numbers when the Dungeon reopened in County Hall.

Sending an email with renewal prices and then hiking them up within two weeks is just rude though. Renewals should be around the prices in the email. But the sale prices are still very good for new passes.

I didn't bother renewing in 2014 and won't for 2015 either, not enough newness. I overdid the park visits when I had a pass and now (Thorpe especially) they just seem receptive. Will just use 2for1 or clubcard voucher for a fireworks trip to AT again.

On the subject of vouchers, they do need to sort gate pricing now (as AstroDan said), reading Tripadvisor there are a lot of people who state they wouldn't visit without a voucher (or AP) and the prices look expensive.
 
In sure they are making plenty of money from people with annual passes. Don't forget many of us stay in their overpriced hotels and eat in their overpriced restaurants. It's not all about gate entry prices.

Plus, with the recent piece hike, if you go in with a mate on a BOGOF (25 quid) then you're looking at 7 visits before the annual pass pays for itself.
 
My biggest issue is paying more for less.
Every year, we are used to Merlin cutting perks from one or both passes. I know Legoland Windsor parking is only small, and having no access to Shrek World was pretty much a given for standard pass holders (surprised with the restrictions for premium though), but if they are gonna hike up the price by such a huge margin, it would be easier to swallow if it came with more - not less!
 
I can understand that the Legoland parking thing may be a mistake, but I can also see it being a bitchy response to the council's refusal of their new attraction. The reasons quoted where traffic and Merlin will simply say they are under pressure to reduce the number of cars coming in. Cue a rise to £6 for parking next year also, and the same at Thorpe no doubt.

They have previous for such childishness when they don't get their own way, remember the VAT pricing being displayed misleadingly in an attempt to try and get the public to do their dirty work and pressure the government for a VAT cut.
 
I actually don't think it was too pressure the government for a vat cut, I think it was to mislead people into thinking their prices were cheaper thanthey actually were.

Ultimately we ask have to pay vat on everything we buy and the only reason a company like Merlin would show prices without vat would be to make them look cheaper.
 
No it was very much a case of this is how cheap it would be without VAT. It was flawed and an epic fail, but I don't think they were true to mislead - just try and turn people against the government.

Let's be honest, the company is a joke in many areas. Hopefully the idiots that make these poor PR decisions that nearly always lead to u-turns will be given the boot under the microscope of public ownership.
 
Another year, another decision not to bother buying a MAP...
I only live 15 miles from Thorpe, can get to Chessington & LegoLand in 45 minutes, and can drive to Alton Towers in 3hrs, so I wouldn't want to be buying a one park only pass either.

It isn't the cost. Truly, it can't be, because sitting in my wallet is my Europa Park annual pass - I'm clearly willing to fork out £130 for a pass to ONE park. In another country! It doesn't offer me 20% dining/shopping discount, it doesn't cover car park charges either, in fact it covers a heck of a lot less.

I ONLY bought a Premium MAP, when they were introduced, for the free car parking attached. It seems a lot to fork out for free parking perhaps, but then suddenly charging £2 at Chessie to park on some grass was a bit of a piss take (no matter how they try and justify what it's spent on - like the Alton bypass?!). I think the fact that the terms keep changing is the major, major problem and have come to a head this year; that there are so many exclusion dates on the standard one, that parking charges may or may not be covered by even the premium pass, that you can't even use them on the new midway attraction this year, that it's stated you should pre-booked all midways anyway so you can't just rock up with your pass anymore...

The standard pass has been devalued, because with so many 'exclusions', what is the appeal/point of buying one?
The premium pass is what the standard pass used to be.
When it came in, a lot of people felt very cheated and ripped off - and yes, we succumbed to buying it simply because we were left little other choice.

This 'sale' price issue comes at a point where I think a lot of people are still feeling the effects of the standard/premium pass split and are still very sore about it.
And it isn't the actual cost! It's what you perceive the pass to offer.

Entry into 31 attractions for £160 is ridiculously cheap when you think about it. But the trouble is the way people feel that the terms keep changing; that what they were guarenteed when they first bought the pass simply doesn't exist or that at any moment Merlin might change the terms again. And that's not what we want to be buying, because then it's perceived as a waste of money if it subsequently excludes the very thing that prompted you to buy one in the first place. Even more so if you're then pushed to buy the more expensive product because that's the only way to get back what was excluded - that's just money grabbing greed as far as the average consumer is concerned. The fact is, Merlin are calling 'premium' what most people would perceive as 'standard' - you pay x amount that allows you to go to the attraction of your choice any time, which is what most annual passes elsewhere do. That's the standard! What is the premium product offered then? So already they feel ripped off.
And from that point on, everything Merlin does is going to be seen that way. And trouble is, it is. Sure, there's more 2for1 voucher flogging than you can a dead horse, but then that's countered by the fast pass pushing and extortionate prices for those that is clearly only for profit because it certainly isn't for ride queue control... and of course this year's Scarefest maze charging, the continual cutting in operations hours, the VAT price misleading in prior years, and it all just builds and builds. And when you go to those parks at the moment you don't really feel you're seeing where your money is going either. This 'sale that isnt a sale' debacle has really been the final straw.

They need to seriously simplify their Annual Passes, and get rid of this standard and premium (and VIP for that matter) nonsense once and for all.
My suggestion? Just split the passes to being attraction based.
1) a 'Theme Park' AP - covering Alton, Thorpe, Chessie, LegoLand. No exclusion dates and car parking is covered. I don't even care about the 20% eating/dining discount, or the fast passes thrown in, or any of that stuff. Simply, I pay 'x' amount. I get in any of the theme parks when I want to go. Easy.
2) a 'Midway Attractions' AP - covering the Eyes, Sealife, Dungeons, Lego Discovery centre's, Warwick Castle, Shrek etc. Again, no exclusion dates or pre-booking nonsense!
3) an 'Everything Merlin' pass - covers both theme parks and midways.

And the thing is, I would pay £150 for a 'theme parks only' AP, with the above terms! People like straightforward simplicity. There's a lot of value to be had within that itself.
 
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Let us not forget the loss of free drink refills earlier this year as well. Not that I ever used it myself, but many people did.

I didn't buy a MAP this season, opting to spend my money visiting new parks abroad instead. In the end, I didn't visit a single UK park this year at all, though that was not intentional.
As far as Merlin rides go, I won't deny that I've missed Nemy and Stealth. But in the end, I still got my fix elsewhere. I urge everyone to make a stand and step away from Merlin. You'd be surprised how little you miss being a MAP owner.
 
Kelpie has hit the nail on the head.

I'm not renewing this year, I may look at an AT pass but not certain. It isn't the cost as like Kelpie I have an EP AP which offers FAR less than the MAP, it's the repeated disregard for loyal customers.
 
Brilliant post Kelpie, and spot on too.

I have never bought an AP, so this doesn't bother me. Although it seems that Merlin really need to overhaul their passes (like your idea Kelpie).

I think it's time Merlin slowly limit 241s and mass offers over the coming years. Having a discount has become the norm for theme parks. It seems this is now starting to bite back at Merlin. If they continue down this route they will continue to lose customers.
 
I'm not a marketing bod, but if Merlin renamed their passes to what they truly are I suspect everyone would start viewing them differently and without the same level of grumbling and feeling they're being ripped off - even being charged the same price (or more) for them.

Say the present 'premium' pass was renamed 'The Merlin Standard Annual Pass'
And the present 'standard' was renamed 'The Merlin Budget Annual Pass'
Completely different perception of what they are and offer simply in a name change.
Because the joke was that the premium pass is what the standard pass was and people aren't that dumb and forget. They do remember - it isn't just enthusiasts who buy year on year, average members of the public do too.
With a budget pass, like a budget hotel, you'd expect more restrictions or less perks attached.

No, the issue is definitely the continual changes in what the AP offers/allows, and ultimately, it doesn't matter whether you can afford it or not, or how much it actually costs, people don't like feeling that they've wasted their money.
While the MAP allows me to go to the midway attractions, I have little interest in them. I'd rather have the option of a 'parks only' pass. People like a bargin, but they don't like paying for something they're not using either. So buying a MAP as it presently is, I'm paying for something I don't actually want. That also is a perceived waste.
 
But then there's always the issues of the 'budget' option costing £120...
 
The Everything annual pass should include all the things the current ones don't, like Cariba Creek in the UK, and all other European and Worldwide attractions.
 
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