Center Parcs closing for funeral

[ViscountessBridgerton]

Had the email to say Monday arrival delayed until Tuesday, can't get in until 4pm. 30% refund offered. From social media, it looks like people on a 7 night break are actually expected to leave at 10am on the Monday and not come back until Tuesday! People on a weekend break aren't being compensated for having to leave by 10am on the Monday.

AIBU to think wtf?!?!

Madness.

This is really poor. Surely they can at least allow those on a 7 night break to stay but keep the activities closed for a few hours.
There are bound to be members of staff willing to work on Monday especially if they are paid extra.

Staff need customers to be able to have a job.

Why is it being respectful? It's just jumping on the bandwagon without giving a thought to their customers.

As others have said a proportionate response would be to shut restaurants and activities for a few hours for the funeral.

@Remainiac well to me paying £67pppn is a luxury brand

They normally prioritise profit over everything so god knows where this compassion suddenly appeared from

This thread has made me start mumbling 'fascist overlords' to myself in the style of Rik Mayall from the Young Ones ..closing bloody Centerparks because a member of the monarchy died, for an enforced period of collective mourning, while robbing people of their holidays in the process...what is this, North Korea?!

Apparently you'd need to check out Monday at 10am and come back Tuesday at 10am.

It would surely have been easier to close facilities and keep skeleton staff on 2x or 2.3x pay (or whatever) and provide screens and a place for those staff members to watch the funeral, barring being called to emergencies, than send EVERYONE home!

I've never heard of anything so ridiculous!

2.5x

I can't think of another holiday park, which is all it is, where you'd pay as much. Forest Holidays/ Bluestone are cheap in comparison.

Absolutely ridiculous.
And it is a luxury type brand. Not 5-star Michelin obviously, but it is the luxury Butlins or Pontins.

People are actually being told on twitter that they will be able to return the following morning if they’re booked to stay for more than just the weekend.

Plus the advertising for weekend break advertises from Friday until midnight on Monday and no-one on a weekend break is being offered compensation, and many are saying they will be going to trading standards because of false advertising.

This is going to be an absolute PR disaster for CP. it’s very easy to sit behind a keyboard and go on about apparent grief yada yada but if you’re a paying customer who is going to be out of pocket during one of the biggest cost of living crises we’ve ever known you wouldn’t be quite so understanding.

Absolutely barmy. Give the staff a few hours off to watch the ceremony if they want to. If you work in the tourist industry you are expected to work on Bank Holidays anyway.
I can't imagine this decision will do much for their reputation!)

Quite agree. Absolutely OTT.

Its like the Middle Ages. Compulsory mourning for everyone. Will there be detector vans driving around checking we are all sitting in front of our TVs at the appointed hour?

Having read about the poor woman on here whose mother’s funeral has been cancelled that day and the amount of NHS operations that are having to be rescheduled, from the 19/9, I think we’ve lost the plot!

Seems Butlins are not closing, just cancelling certain things on the schedule and airing the funeral on screens

Like someone else has said this is probably about kids being off school and nursery and therefore the parents need to be home to look after them. I'm very happy ok getting an extra holiday (and relieved because the kids will be home and I don't need to take leave for that) but announcing a bank holiday with such short notice was always going to be difficult to implement.

It's crazy expecting people to leave cp mid-break though. They should have probably offered double pay to a reduced number of staff but that would eat into their profit.

All in all, it's a crappy situation and shows little forethought or consideration from our leaders but that's what you get with a populist government and a self serving head of state who constantly has to justify their existence.

Don’t be ridiculous. It’s not about their children being able to “play”, it’s about eg people who are there for one week having to check out at 10am Monday and find alternative accommodation until 10am Tuesday.

I am sure there are lots of CP staff who would not be bothered about missing the funeral, along with the other very large number of people who will also have to work that day, like it or not.

People there on 7 day breaks are being asked to literally leave on the monday and come back on the Tuesday.

Surely you can see how completely stupid that is.

isnt Center Parcs zero hour contracts?

Is it for respect for the staff or to save a bit of money

This seems a sensible response

Agreed.

They also don’t seem to be remotely bothered about the welfare of the customer services staff who are having to navigate the hundreds of fuming customers

if they offered increased pay they would be crushed under the stampede of people wanting to work.

I used to work for a company which was open on bank holidays for 2x pay, and staff would volunteer, if not enough volunteers they would then enforce people’s contracts. I never worked a bank holiday there in 3 years because they always had too many volunteers, and the ones who then weren’t needed were carried forward to the next bank holiday.

Next, it will be the bloody coronation - time for the peasants to revolt.

Wow
I'm a fan of the Royal Family but this is utterly ridiculous.