Miffed to be an annual pass holder

[namechangeaga1n]

So...any other annual pass holders for attractions where you could turn up when you liked for the duration of your pass cheesed off that pass tickets are like gold dust, yet you can still buy day tickets!

@stablefeet

I'm afraid that I kept my National Trust membership for a year, then cancelled it. It felt wrong to me that loyal supporters had to enter the same lottery to gain entrance to properties as people who didn't pay for membership.

Your membership was ensuring that those historic places survive. They are immensely important and incredibly expensive to maintain. It’s not a theme park but a conservation charity you were supporting. So you were only a member for the benefits. I hope not everyone has had the same attitude or I’ll be expecting lots of new entries on next year’s heritage at risk register.

@Sciurus83 - you can explain it until you're blue in the face but it's as pointless as arguing with toddlers.

I’m another v and a (victoria and Albert museum) disappointed ex member. I got the annual membership for the first (and last) time in jan literally just before first lockdown. I honestly couldn’t believe the tone of their emails when I asked what to do and them expecting me just to forgo the whole membership without any extension being offered. I haven’t benefitted from it at all. It was a one off departure from my usual annual membership at the Tate, but it was a mistake particularly as I hear Tate offered to extend memberships where people had missed out over lockdown. The V and A have really disappointed me. They really misread their audience in my opinion and their assumption everyone wanted to somehow become a benefactor with nothing in return was way off the mark. Rant over.

Been thinking of cancelling our NT membership as one of our small local sites has been closed throughout and remains so, our other favourite is a pot luck to get availability at busier times like school holidays and the great play area still has the best bits closed off. Our last visit was early January and it was a bit disappointing, had been trampled to a pulp and litter and dog muck all over. Been going a few years now and was a bit sad. Appreciate there a charity but tired of paying for membership that I can’t fully use. Our local farm park annual membership was suspended each period of closure

I can understand NT limiting numbers for enclosed gardens/play areas etc. but our local one makes you book to go for a walk in acres and acres of parkland. It's so annoying. It's also annoying that even if they haven't sold out for the day you can't book on the day.

Seriously fucked off with it. Oh and the coffee shop was doing takeaway but they'd removed all benches where you might have sat to drink one! Ridiculous.

[quote namechangeaga1n]**@SomewhereInbetween1* @BreakfastOfWaffles* they could charge for no shows or proportionately reimburse pass holders who want this. [/quote]
If members are already upset they can't get in, the furore if their terms and conditions were changed to accept financial liability for not showing up would be even worse.

If everyone is looking for cheap days out this year without the up front cost of a membership somewhere or at several places, your best bet is to head out and grab the April issue of Gardener's World magazine for the 2for1 gardens pass. Loads of places with gardens as well as playgrounds and historic properties are a part of the scheme and no there's no joining fee

@SmednotaSmoo I didn’t think PP were polite at all! I think all of their correspondence to season ticket holders has been rude and condescending, blaming us all for the fact that some people have been no shows. That has been my biggest problem with them.
All the other attractions local to me have been very apologetic and sincere in their correspondence and I believe it makes customers’ goodwill go a lot further.

I paid nt until January but have now cancelled. I will restart in the summer and we went to stourhead Christmas lights which was nice but no discount for members (I think we got free parking so saved a couple of pounds having paid more than £70 for the 5 of us).

@Lulu1919

I'm still miffed I STILL can't just pop in to NT properties yet I'm being charged £10 a month

We let our membership lapse last summer because of the ticketing which we could never plan for and/or get any when it was convenient for us to go.

Still waiting for things to return to 'normal' before considering rejoining.

@MrsTulipTattsyrup stop being so sanctimonious. Of course people pay membership for the opportunity to visit NT attractions rather than just a charitable donation! I make many donations (currently raising thousands for our local hospital to build a new Breast Cancer Unit) so I don’t need someone trying to make me feel guilty. I continued supporting and paying my family membership without any benefit and now I’ve decided to stop. I will restart when I can use the membership.

[quote m0therofdragons]@MrsTulipTattsyrup stop being so sanctimonious. Of course people pay membership for the opportunity to visit NT attractions rather than just a charitable donation! I make many donations (currently raising thousands for our local hospital to build a new Breast Cancer Unit) so I don’t need someone trying to make me feel guilty. I continued supporting and paying my family membership without any benefit and now I’ve decided to stop. I will restart when I can use the membership.[/quote]
I’m not being sanctimonious. This is my entire working life, making sure places like this survive. I get very pissed off with fair-weather friends. Your children will only be able to take their children to places like NT sites if they’re able to raise sufficient funds to keep them going.

[quote rulesofthecar]@SmednotaSmoo I didn’t think PP were polite at all! I think all of their correspondence to season ticket holders has been rude and condescending, blaming us all for the fact that some people have been no shows. That has been my biggest problem with them.
All the other attractions local to me have been very apologetic and sincere in their correspondence and I believe it makes customers’ goodwill go a lot further.[/quote]
I would agree with this. Blaming us all for no shows, still charging £1 to book tickets and the very steep increase in renewing season tickets has been very poorly communicated.

They have made it very very clear that they do not value season ticket holders at all. In fact they are doing all they can to put people off renewing their season tickets.

Give it 2 years and they will be regretting it as when things are normal the season ticket holders (especially those that go midweek term time) will be so low that they won't have the add on money from food, drinks etc..... that a lot of us spend.

We need to make the decision to renew in the next 2 weeks and I think we are not going to renew. Its just too expensive now.

I’d heard Paultons had increased their membership fees hugely, and you have to pay full price for any child over about 3! We haven’t been yet but not sure if it’s worth it.
Marwell zoo allow elements to book quite easily and you can get in in the afternoon. They release more tickets a 1pm, when people have started leaving, daily for members.

@ShatnersWig

£185 for individual membership of Paulton Park? Just one place?? A family of two adults and any number of children can get family membership of the National Trust for £126 and visit hundreds of places. Sweet Jesus.

Yes it’s crazy. Season ticket prices at Paultons have massively increased, along with an additional £1 charge each time you go. It’s really not worth having season tickets any more, but that is probably what Paultons are trying to achieve. With the restricted numbers they can easily fill the park with purchasers of day tickets, which makes them more money.

This could come back to bite them when normality returns, and all the loyal season ticket holders have deserted them.

I’m not being sanctimonious. This is my entire working life, making sure places like this survive. I get very pissed off with fair-weather friends. Your children will only be able to take their children to places like NT sites if they’re able to raise sufficient funds to keep them going.

@MrsTulipTattsyrup - "Fair weather friends"? What you're looking for is a donor or benefactor. You are absolutely absurd to suggest that everyone should part with their hard-earned money to support NT properties because you've spent your life working for them, for no benefit to themselves. Why do you feel they are so vitally important? So important that people should commit to a monthly donation to them but never actually get to visit any of them?

@Babymamamama Tate haven't been great over the lockdown memberships tbh and I've had really shoddy service in the member rooms in Tate Modern as a single patron (if it is busy the woman on the door encourages groups to bagsy a table before they order food) as a single person i can't do that easily and have ended up without a seat on a couple of occasions. It's very annoying and I vowed to cancel my membership this year except my renewal payment was taken on 1st April and the bloody letter about it only arrived yesterday so I've missed the date.

Actually none of the art organisations have been that great - I hold multiple memberships to london attractions primarily because I'm disorganised and like being able to just turn up to go into which ever is the "must see" exhibition is closing

I'm pretty pissed off that I've had to enter the general V&A lottery to rebook dates for both the Bags and Alice exhibitions - they don't seem to be holding any additional tickets aside for members which given that pre pandemic we could just waltz up is really irritating.

@MrsTulipTattsyrup having previously worked for the National Trust as an estate manager for a number of years, I’ve learnt that the National Trust can’t usually do right for wrong. I don’t agree with everything they do but if they’d not complied with charity commission laws that would have be outrage at them wasting money members money on fines.

@MrsTulipTattsyrup please think about what we are saying.

I'm well aware that arts organisations need the revenue which is why I kept all my memberships on last year and will do so again this year but some kind of recognition would be nice.

I go to galleries regularly and when I'm there I spend money in the shop and cafe. I also increasingly have to buy my "not a godson" a ticket to come too as he is >12 so no longer free and I'm his go-to exhibition buddy - his parents aren't that interested and he knows I'm a member so my ticket doesn't cost so he asks me to take him. It feels mean asking a child to pay for his ticket.

He actually comes to so much stuff I"m actually thinking about upgrading to "bring a guest" membership for V&A and Tate which I've previously declined - or maybe I need to investigate the young member schemes for him.

I’m not being sanctimonious. This is my entire working life, making sure places like this survive. I get very pissed off with fair-weather friends. Your children will only be able to take their children to places like NT sites if they’re able to raise sufficient funds to keep them going.

Wow! Fair weather friends?

Most member and friends of attractions have held memberships for years. It's unfair to treat them like second class visitors because you after a quick profit. It's them you need to try and keep you we want our children to be able to visit for years to come.

The crowds visiting now won't be back when the restrictions are over. And so might be your ex members.

@Beseigedbykillersquirrels

I’m not being sanctimonious. This is my entire working life, making sure places like this survive. I get very pissed off with fair-weather friends. Your children will only be able to take their children to places like NT sites if they’re able to raise sufficient funds to keep them going.

@MrsTulipTattsyrup - "Fair weather friends"? What you're looking for is a donor or benefactor. You are absolutely absurd to suggest that everyone should part with their hard-earned money to support NT properties because you've spent your life working for them, for no benefit to themselves. Why do you feel they are so vitally important? So important that people should commit to a monthly donation to them but never actually get to visit any of them?

I’ve ever worked for the National Trust. The heritage world is much, much bigger. Heritage tourism brings in almost 10% of GDP. If we lose the things which people come here for, we also lose that income as a country.

I do though have memberships to several other organisations and have carried on paying them, to support their various wildlife and natural conservation work through enforced closures because of Covid. So they can carry on doing the work they do. This is a short term issue whereas their missions are long term.

@Sciurus83

The National Trust are a charity. To maintain their charitable status they cannot offer only a service to their members, it has to be available to everyone. They have limited numbers to ensure safe social distancing, and they have to have a certain ration between members and non member places to maintain their charitable status and access to funding that allows. Member places obviously book up more quickly, but they cannot free up non member places for members as it would contravene accessibility. The National Trust arent actively trying to shaft their members, they have to operate in the way they have been.

This.

Your annual passes give you cheaper visits assuming a certain number of visits. They do not give you priority. You are severely mistaken if you think they give you priority.

The fact that covid has restricted the number of visitors at any one time, and the fact that they have been forced to close for a good portion of the year, both of which make it more difficult for all comers to visit, is out of their control.

They still can't prioritise members without contravening regulations.

I can't speak for non-charitable attractions like Merlin, but as with most private companies it's their sandbox, their rules.

Longleat ?? Still waiting for their customer services to reply to my email.

@Sciurus83

The National Trust are a charity. To maintain their charitable status they cannot offer only a service to their members, it has to be available to everyone. They have limited numbers to ensure safe social distancing, and they have to have a certain ration between members and non member places to maintain their charitable status and access to funding that allows. Member places obviously book up more quickly, but they cannot free up non member places for members as it would contravene accessibility. The National Trust arent actively trying to shaft their members, they have to operate in the way they have been.

Very disappointed with NT. I appreciate they are a charity, but so is Chester Zoo, who have been excellent in my opinion. NT should understand that the majority of families who buy membership do so to access their properties for day trips. I am rather less interested in making a donation to the conservation of properties and grounds many others cannot afford to visit.

Our local NT is in a very deprived area. There is a covenant to ensure the local community have access to the land. During lockdown, thousands of children were cooped up indoors, while the gates of their expansive grounds were firmly locked. When they finally opened up, they gave out so few tickets, it was like a ghost town. They also treated their volunteers very poorly last year.

We did have NT membership, but cancelled. On the other hand, not only did we renew our zoo membership, but we 'adopted' a couple of animals too. When we have visited, we have made an extra effort to spend in the shop and food outlets.

I wish the NT luck if they don't realise that many of their members are also trying to make ends meet.

Bought passes Christmas 2019. They have never been used. DH was shielding due to Covid, but as he wasn't a pass holder merlin wouldn't refund the passes. He doesn't come to theme parks because he can't ride due to his medical needs.

Massive waste of money. I'll try to make use of the extensions this year now DH is vaccinated, but won't be buying again when they run out.

@Clymene I do understand the reason they can't offer for members but to get no extra couple of months free really annoyed me so I didn't renew. Once things are opened up again and when I want to visit somewhere I'll going again.

Where I live we don't have many NT places nearby so we tend to go away for weekends and do lots of properties in an area, I'm waiting for that to happen again.