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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To say that Merlin are money-grabbing slags?

104 replies

jaffle · 19/09/2019 16:29

I know this is a first-world problem and IBU for even setting foot in Legoland..but the kids love it. However I think we have to stop going.

They have been sending me emails saying they are having a big sale and free entry to the park on the 2nd day, with a deadline of the 15th September. So I booked a 1 night stay just before the deadline, then this week I see that they have dropped the price by £70 and still includes the 2nd day entry into the park.

Because this feels as if I was misled, I called to ask if they can refund the difference, NO.

Can they cancel (under distance selling regs) and I will rebook, NO.

(I checked and looks as if DSR doesn't apply to package hols according to gov.uk)

It was clear they didn't give 2 shiny shits that I was a regular customer or they would lose our custom.

I have noticed over the years that they are getting grabbier and grabbier but this takes the biscuit. I cannot stand someone thinking they can put their hand in my pocket but when they play on the fact it's for your kids it makes steam come out of my ears.

I know I am not BU to say they're money grabbing slags, AIBU to try to take this further, maybe on social media or CEO letter? Or should I just give up now, but never go ever again??

OP posts:
MustardScreams · 19/09/2019 19:01

Omggg anti-women insults are so hilarious! I’m so cool for finding them funny! I don't give a shit about the women these insults have been used against and how horrific it makes them feel! LOL!

LeysaV · 19/09/2019 19:15

Some proper weird posts tonight.

Bluntness100 · 19/09/2019 19:25

I read your OP in a mock cockney accent in fact 😂Don’t worry about the terminally offended, us normal folks knew what you meant

I've never watched rhe sweeney, as I wasn't old enough. So I don't get the reference, as many on here won't,

It doesn't change the fact times have changed, we don't Black up our faces and pretend to be on the black and white minstrels either. Many things were acceptable in the seventies that are now not. And quite rightly. Those things are no longer funny. Many people aren't old enough to get the references. Many people now dislike them intently. Again quite rightly.

This doesn't make them "abnormal".

Eastie77 · 19/09/2019 19:26

I'm from East London and have heard men refer to other men as slags several times. I've even used it jokingly myself when referring to male friends .

OP I thought your title was funny. The pearl clutchers can sue me.

Anyway, YABU to go to the wretched horror that is Legoland so you deserve the bad luck that came your way. Try Thomas Land next time, much better value for money and less crowded.

familycourtq · 19/09/2019 19:31

YANBU Merlin have had the last few of my hard-earned. Bastards.
The actual Lego bits of Legoland are fucked and neglected and they clearly don't give a stuff.
They can flip off to the far side of flip and then some.

SleepingStandingUp · 19/09/2019 19:32

So thry had a sale and you paid for what you thought you were getting and now you're unhappy because you chose to book when you did and now the price has dropped further?

You know they didn't make you book right? Free will and all

Funghi · 19/09/2019 19:32

Wow.

You’re getting offended by a joke that doesn’t exist.

SiousieSoo · 19/09/2019 19:35

Has anybody seen the exchange between Gavin and Smithy in Gavin and Stacey where they mock refer to each other by saying 'you slaaaaag'? It is clearly a modern take on a formerly used term that may apply to a dodgy / undesirable person. In the context of the OP's statement it is really quite clear that she was not using it in a derogatory way against women FFS. Lighten up.

Tfoot75 · 19/09/2019 19:43

It's just basic supply and demand. Really pisses me off when ignorant people 'slag' off businesses for acting like businesses instead of charities. Duh...

Not sure what people think the CEO of merlin entertainments could possibly have to do with setting prices at the legoland hotel tbh, think you may have slightly misunderstood what his role is likely to comprise. We have no idea if the team in charge of pricing of hotel breaks includes males or females, but it'll be f all to do with the CEO.

ScreamingValenta · 19/09/2019 19:45

we don't Black up our faces and pretend to be on the black and white minstrels either

That isn't really a valid analogy, though. You're describing something that has always been racially offensive, but we now, rightly, take this seriously rather than its being a form of entertainment, as it was in the 70s. There have never been parallel meanings attached to it.

The word 'slag' has several meanings, one of which is offensive to women and has always been; another of which doesn't refer to women and never has.

Iminagony · 19/09/2019 19:50

Of course they are money grabbing. They run a business. A very successful business.
It's annoying but it's no different to any other sale. You asked if they would refund the difference, they said no. Nothing more you can do about it. I highly doubt complaining on sm will change anything.

The word slags is completely inappropriate though.

Ukholidaysaregreat · 19/09/2019 19:56

Haha! Funniest thread title of the evening. You are right - they are money grabbing!

icedgem85 · 19/09/2019 20:00

Slags? What? Weird. YABU. Prices always go up and down on hotels/ holidays/ clothes. Would you throw a tantrum if you bought a dress for £60, wore it, then two days later saw it for £25? Annoying, yes. Wrong? No. Don’t be silly...

Metempsychosis · 19/09/2019 20:13

I’m now going to be saying “Shut it you slaaaaaag!” all week to anyone on the telly or radio who annoys me, in the manner of a Guy Ritchie protagonist. It’s a shame John Humphreys has retired really.

ItsGoingTibiaK · 19/09/2019 20:14

@SiousieSoo Yup. That’s what I thought of immediately when I read the thread title. I think they’re doing impressions of Mike Reid aren’t they? And of course, DCI Slater in Only Fools and Horses was known as Slater The Slag. It’s just an east-end-dodgy-geezer-trope.

HermioneWeasley · 19/09/2019 20:14

They are awful. I felt gouged whenever I went and so I’ve stopped going.

I don’t mind companies making money, but something feels really grubby about the way they do it

BilboBercow · 19/09/2019 22:10

Oh "slags" how hilaire... wait, no it's not.

Unihorn · 19/09/2019 22:21

The Gavin and Stacey exchange is literally all I could think of after reading this thread. People get crazy het up on words on MN.

ItsGoingTibiaK · 20/09/2019 00:26

The word 'slag' was being used as a slang term as far back as 1785, where it was specifically used as an insult towards men. Francis Grose's Dictionary In The Vulgar Tongue defines it as "A slack-mettled fellow, one not ready to resent an affront."

As far as I can work out, it wasn't until the 1950s that it was being used as a term for female prostitutes, and then over the next decade more generally for girls and women of dubious morals, as it were.

It's quite hard to work out what happened between 1785 and the 1950s, as most dictionaries just didn't include any reference to it being used as a personal insult at all - which may have been prudishness rather than an actual reflection on its usage.

But, whatever, you're right about Merlin - I can't stand any of they're attractions as they pile too many people in, charge a fortune for entry, and seek opportunities to extract more cash at every turn.

redcupbluecup · 20/09/2019 10:08

Fucking hell. People will argue about anything on this site 😂 the OP is frustrated. No need to pick apart how she words it. Ofcourse its gutting to see it's now cheaper. Not everyone could shrug that off and not be annoyed. Yes it happens all the time but being pissed off hardly makes her unreasonable.

FfionFlorist · 20/09/2019 10:32

Merlin clearly didn't sell as many breaks in their sale as they had hoped for. They had to drop the price further to sell the remaining breaks/ holidays. Simple supply and demand. Simple business. Merlin will have a big team and complicated algorithms working out pricing.

LochJessMonster · 20/09/2019 10:40

'Slag' is primarily used to insult a woman who has sex. It's derogatory to woman. Pretending otherwise is just arguing for the sake of it.

Idontwanttotalk · 20/09/2019 10:54

YABU to refer to them as slags.

This is the same as buying an item and it going down in a sale the week after. It happens all the time.

If you were happy with the price you paid at the time then you should just go and enjoy it. It's up to you if you decide not to give them your custom again. They aren't exactly going to notice but if it makes you feel better then do that.

I think loads of things like theme parks and zoos etc are astronomical prices but best try not to get so wound up about something you can't change.

SkiingIsHeaven · 20/09/2019 10:58

Slags.

Are you 12 years old?

HeadLikeAFuckinOrange · 20/09/2019 11:03

It wasn't that long ago that Pot Noodle had a TV ad that called it "The Slag of All Snacks"!

I can't actually remember the last time I heard it to describe a female, probably when I was about 15.