Henry Rawlinson
TS Member
For the first time we are considering buying an annual Merlin pass for our young family.
We are interested in the Premium adult Merlin annual pass 'Pay monthly' option which is advertised at the rate of £11.99/month plus joining fee of £34.99. We understand this pay monthly option is new this year (2019).
The only way it seems we can purchase this pass is by using their website.
On the website when we go through the process we reach a screen which says, with regards to the joining fee:
Monthly membership: £11.99 monthly cost
Membership joining fee:. £34.99
Subtotal: .£39.15
VAT: £7.83
Total: £46.98
Weird eh? How is that subtotal coming to £39.15? And why do they advertise the prices without any VAT included? Isn't that considered poor practise in the UK? I can understand overseas visitors being able to reclaim the VAT but that's no reason to buck the UK norm, I reckon. It feels like false advertising....
It only adds these prices on after we have filled-in the form and taken a selfie to upload for your ID. That's not being up-front and clear. It's like when airlines added 'hidden extras' at the last stage of booking, before TV's "Watchdog" got involved...
On the website it says there's a 'live chat' that can be used to ask questions. It apparently only comes up when there's someone available to answer. We've not seen it come up at all yet. Plus we cannot find a telephone number to ring and ask. We've emailed them but, unlike similar services, they don't say in what timescales they will respond.
Has anyone else struggled to understand their pricing for this?
Henry (wanting to buy a pass, but not prepared to shell out on unexplained costs.)
We are interested in the Premium adult Merlin annual pass 'Pay monthly' option which is advertised at the rate of £11.99/month plus joining fee of £34.99. We understand this pay monthly option is new this year (2019).
The only way it seems we can purchase this pass is by using their website.
On the website when we go through the process we reach a screen which says, with regards to the joining fee:
Monthly membership: £11.99 monthly cost
Membership joining fee:. £34.99
Subtotal: .£39.15
VAT: £7.83
Total: £46.98
Weird eh? How is that subtotal coming to £39.15? And why do they advertise the prices without any VAT included? Isn't that considered poor practise in the UK? I can understand overseas visitors being able to reclaim the VAT but that's no reason to buck the UK norm, I reckon. It feels like false advertising....
It only adds these prices on after we have filled-in the form and taken a selfie to upload for your ID. That's not being up-front and clear. It's like when airlines added 'hidden extras' at the last stage of booking, before TV's "Watchdog" got involved...
On the website it says there's a 'live chat' that can be used to ask questions. It apparently only comes up when there's someone available to answer. We've not seen it come up at all yet. Plus we cannot find a telephone number to ring and ask. We've emailed them but, unlike similar services, they don't say in what timescales they will respond.
Has anyone else struggled to understand their pricing for this?
Henry (wanting to buy a pass, but not prepared to shell out on unexplained costs.)