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Merlin Annual Pass

Jordan said:
Rest assured! We've compiled an easy-to-use translation tool so you no longer have to spend hours deciphering poorly-written press releases!

http://www.towersstreet.com/wiki/English-Merlin_dictionary
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That's absolutely brilliant!

It's is a quite awfully written release. The way it reads suggests that they know people probably won't like it so they feel the need to blag a way to make it sound decent. Telling people that they've called it a ‘magically brilliant new capsule’ when they haven't is just ridiculous.

:)
 
I'm not entirely sure how stupid Merlin think we all are to be honest. It only takes 19 refills for the new capsule to be more expensive, or even fewer if you consider you're not getting as much to drink each time. I suspect it will work out slightly better value for the people who visit Merlin parks up to about 5 times per year but everyone else is clearly losing out - and presumably the people making that many visits don't have annual passes anyway.
 
Posted on their facebook page today:

Merlin Annual Pass Drinks Capsules 2014 – an update.

When we posted about the changes to the drinks capsules it’s fair to say that this wasn’t the reaction we were expecting – or hoping for.

We obviously haven’t explained the reasons behind our decision clearly or thoroughly enough, so here goes.

Before making these changes, we consulted more than 900 Passholders and Merlin Members to find out how they use their capsules. They told us that, on average, they visited nine attractions each year, filling their capsule twice each time.

Based on this average usage, the price of the new capsule and the 75p charge for refills will cost you slightly less than the old system of charging £16 per capsule with free refills. (Here’s the maths: £1.99 + 2x9x0.75 = £15.49).

The Passholders and Members we spoke to also wanted the choice of refilling with non-fizzy soft drink, so we’re now introducing a non-fizzy drink refill option.

Once again, we’re sorry that we didn’t explain ourselves better in the original post and hope that this update goes some way to rectify that.
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I guess it wouldn't be Merlin if we didn't have at least one rip off fiasco every start of season.
 
Any indication what the new non-fizzy drink(s) available are or if the 75p refill charge will apply to water?
 
This whole Drinks Capsules thing is a total rip off! I say we sue Merlin... after this year's projects, we don't want any more budget cuts!
 
Funny how they always announce these rip offs just after the January sale, isn't it?
 
I expect the 'non-fizzy' drinks will be like Oasis at McDonald's (replaced Still Fanta). Tastes OK but not the best option, and still very sugary.
 
Nice maths! Saving you a grand total of 51p! That's not even going to get you 1 refill!



Hang on a minute...

They've neglected to mention that the new capsules are smaller. So to get the same volume of drink you are presumably going to have to buy at least 1 extra refill than you would last year. So it probably won't be £15.49. It'll be £16.24. So you're still probably going to be worse off whichever way you look at it surely!
 
So they've decided to show that the 'average' person will save 51p with this new system? I'm sure everyone is over the moon with the life changing saving. That really just makes it look worse, you're saving pretty much nothing compared to the previous system and if you want more than the average you are losing money.

They have done this for one reason and one reason only, to gain more money.

:)
 
Yep, I wish I had realised that when posting on that thread.

I think the issues I see our.

Increase queueing time. Even with exact change, there is still extra time involved. If people only have a £20 note, thats going to be more time giving the correct change. Also an additional cost to Merlin as they will need to purchase more change to ensure cash tills are kept stocked (Like that will happen) and card payments will delay it even more, if they are even accepted.

I see it as an attempt to make it easier to upsell other stuff, since people will have their wallets/purses out already.

The other issues, is the price has been worked out on the number of drinks people had last year, yet as stated above, the capsules now smaller, so even using last years numbers, your going to have to get more refills to consume the same amount, meaning even for those 900 guests you asked, are going to be out of pocket.

Assuming the number of people signed up to the Merlin Annual Pass Facebook page is the same of number of passes issued each year. I highly expect the number to be double, if not even larger (If anyone knows the number of MAPs sold last year that would be great) but based on the number of people who like the page, that is only 2% of Map holders. I expect the real figure could be under 0.1% of MAP holders. Hardly a great sample.

It just comes across as Merlin been greedy, if there is a genuine reason, such as the cost of the capsules, and associated pest control causing them to no longer be profitable, then say so. And increase the price to £20 a year. People would be much more understanding if they did that, rather than trying to sneak it in, and tell customers that it is going to help them save money.

I wish Merlin had some serious competition in the UK.

Ian
 
I think I heard a couple of years ago that there were around 200,000 MAP holders. I have no idea how accurate that figure is though. I thought it seemed a lot.

:)
 
I don't know about anybody else, but I refill my capsule a lot more than twice on a full day on park!

I won't be bothering to get a capsule this year, based on the new terms. I used mine loads last year, including at the hotels during closed season. I think including non-fizzy drinks is a good idea, but other than that, I'm not impressed with the changes!
 
Worse value every year.

Remember last year they started charging first a pound, then 2 for the digital photos. I'd keep a watch out for more "fantastic spellbindingly brilliantly phenomagical ideas (to get money out of your pockets).

Nick kinda reminds me of David Cameron.
 
Warning - this post contains maths.

The average of 18 times per year is almost certainly a red herring. They'll probably be referring to the median rather than the mean (median = middle value when arranged in ascending order, mean = total refills divided by number of users).

Here's a made up example: say we ask 11 people how many times they refilled last year and we got the following responses: 10,12,14,15,16,18,25,30,40,50,56. Note how there are a large number of small numbers and a few very high numbers, this is realistic as most pass holders (and capsule owners) visit a few times each year, but a small number visit far more often.

Given that sample, most people would assume that average = mean = 26, however you could also say that average = median = 18. Under the old pricing, our group of people would pay 11x£16 = £176, now they will pay £236.39, and that's before we account for the new bottles being smaller than the old ones. It's true that half of our sample will save money, but their savings are small compared to the extra cost to the most frequent users.
 
Basically, Merlin think all their passholders are stupid and wouldn't work out that this is somewhat of a con!

:)
 
They do, and I am glad I do.

If I didn't visit Merlin theme parks, I would lose one of my main social avenues, the common ground by which I met people from here in the first place.

It's not like the parks you'd be left with are better or investing better either.

They may make stupid decisions but by and large spending time at the Merlin parks is an enjoyment which I need very much.
 
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