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View Full Version : Drayton Manor - rip off


Paul
23-07-2005, 23:32
We decided to visit Drayton Manor Park this week and I thought it would be a good idea to order the tickets online.

Bad idea.

Having gone all though the ticket procedure and clicked on confirm, there is suddenly a £1.50 "booking fee" appears on the transaction - when it's too late to cancel :grind: There was no mention [that I can find] of this "fee" - it's just a blatent rip-off. It's not exactly cheap in the first place, and now they rip you off like this as well :afire: - my advice - avoid - and go elsewhere. :td:

tick
23-07-2005, 23:35
you pay booking fee's everywhere now
dont make it right tho

nffc
23-07-2005, 23:58
it rubbish anyway.

Angelus
24-07-2005, 00:30
I like it there

I am local to so its cool

Electrolyte01
24-07-2005, 00:37
It's about 5-10 minutes drive from me. No need to book online ;)

Paul
24-07-2005, 00:41
I didn't need to, I thought i'd do it to save possible time queuing on the day. big mistake.

Julian
24-07-2005, 00:46
I didn't need to, I thought i'd do it to save possible time queuing on the day. big mistake.

You might have done better HERE (http://www.lastminute.com/lmn/pso/catalog/Product.jhtml?POSITION=1&PRODID=420634658&CATID=102460&AID=10296531&PID=1565331) Paul. ;)

Paul
24-07-2005, 01:12
Interesting, I would never have thought of them for such a thing. :D

Graham
24-07-2005, 03:04
We decided to visit Drayton Manor Park this week and I thought it would be a good idea to order the tickets online.

Bad idea.

Having gone all though the ticket procedure and clicked on confirm, there is suddenly a £1.50 "booking fee" appears on the transaction - when it's too late to cancel :grind: There was no mention [that I can find] of this "fee"

This sounds rather dubious to me, however it's a bit tricky because under the Distance Selling Regulations:

Contracts to which only part of these Regulations apply
6. [...] (2) Regulations 7 to 19(1) shall not apply to - [...]

(b) contracts for the provision of accommodation, transport, catering or leisure services, where the supplier undertakes, when the contract is concluded, to provide these services on a specific date or within a specific period.

http://www.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2000/20002334.htm

Regulations 7 to 19 cover the information required prior to the completion of the contract and the cancellation rights etc, but if the tickets were for a specific day they may be excluded from these rules.

Having said that, it certainly sounds dubious that they stick you with this fee *after* you accept the deal and I think a word with you local Trading Standards Department might be in order.

zoombini
24-07-2005, 03:05
If there was no mention on it until it's too late then perhaps you ought to drop a line to the trading standards?

Richard M
24-07-2005, 03:12
Jesus Christ guys, it was only £1.50. :erm:

Graham
24-07-2005, 03:19
Jesus Christ guys, it was only £1.50. :erm:

Fine, send me a cheque for £1.50 if it's so unimportant to you... :disturbd:

And then think about how many people book tickets online and multiply all those by £1.50

The point is that companies should *not* try to get away with this. They certainly should not be *allowed* to get away with it. There's no justification for sticking this charge on, especially not at the end of a transaction (cf ATM charges).

Richard M
24-07-2005, 03:43
They're running a business, not a charity.

slug
24-07-2005, 03:43
Which site did you book it thru?
I have just been to the Drayton Manor site and you can only reserve tickets there to be picked up at an automated machine, only then does your credit card get charged.

zoombini
24-07-2005, 04:01
It doesnt matter if they are running a buisness or if it is "only" £1.50, they should make ALL charges clear before someone accepts the contract.

Graham
24-07-2005, 12:21
They're running a business, not a charity.

Irrelevant.

Whether you run a business or a charity the law says that all charges should be made clear *before* someone commits to a purchase.

ADDENDUM Damn, Zoombini beat me to it. I should have stayed up later last night :)

Jules
24-07-2005, 12:54
I think it is wrong that place charge you a booking fee any way

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2005/07/8.gif

Paul K
24-07-2005, 13:10
I think it is wrong that place charge you a booking fee any way

http://bestsmileys.com/angry2/4.gif
A lot of places charge a booking fee to cover the cost of the booking service. Unfortunately the amount they charge for this service can vary from £1 to £5 depending on who is offering the service :(
There are a number of places that offer you the chance to book in advance, pick up on the day and not pay a fee but to be honest they do need to make any fees clearly visible from the beginning of the booking process and not throw it on at the end when you have already committed your information to them.

Gareth
24-07-2005, 13:11
There's a famous case where one of the national car parking companies put up a sign saying you'd be clamped, but only once you were already inside the car park. Can't remember the exact details, but someone with a proper grounding in UK contract law will know all about it. Briefly, it ain't legal to do so ;)

As Graham points out, maybe there's different laws that apply for distance selling, but it would be interesting to get the Trading Standards opinion on it.

Paul K
24-07-2005, 13:18
Wonder if it was the Drayton Manor online ticket system as it has 8 stages and there is no mention of any booking fee up to stage 7 (where I stopped for good reason).